Expressions of MMP-2 and E-cadherin in esophageal mucosal lesion

OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationship between the protein expressions of MMP-2 and Ecadherin and the development and metastasis of esophageal carcinoma. METHODS:The expressions of E-cadherin protein and MMP-2 protein were examined by immunohistochemistry(IHC) in 45 cases of esophageal carcinoma,21 cases of atypical hyperplasia and 24 cases of normal esophageal mucosa tissues. RESULTS:The positve rates of MMP-2 protein were 40.00%(18/45) in esophageal carcinoma,38.1%(8/21) in esophageal atypical hyperplasia and 4.17%(1/24) in normal tissues. There were significant differences among three groups(P0.05). Additionally,the expression of MMP-2 protein had a correlation with lymph node metastasis(P0.05). The positve rate of MMP-2 protein in esophageal cancer tissues with lymph node metastasis was 55.56%(15/27), significantly higher than that in esophageal cancer tissues without lymph node metastasis(16.67%,3/18). The positve rate of MMP-2 protein in esophageal cancer tissues with fibrous membrane infiltration was higher than that in esophageal cancer tissues without fibrous membrane infiltration(48.57%,17/35;10.00%,1/10). The positive rate of E-cadherin protein in normal tissues(100%) was much higher than that in esophageal carcinoma(28.89%) and esophageal atypical hyperplasia(71.43%). According to these results,the expression of E-cadherin protein had a negative correlation with the expression of MMP-2 protein 2( =4.615,r=-0.793,P0.05). CONCLUSION:There were significant relationships between the high expression of MMP-2 protein and low expression of E-cadherin protein with the development and metastasis of esophageal carcinoma. Furthermore,the expression of E-cadherin protein had a negative correlation with the expression of MMP-2 protein in the invasion and metastasis of esophageal carcinoma.