Expression and significance of MMP-2 and E-cadherin in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

[Objective]To investigate the expressions of MMP-2 and E-cadherin in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma tissue and cell line Eca-109 and EC-9706,and their correlation with the clinical pathology factors.[Methods]S-P immunhistochemistry was used to detect the expression of MMP-2 and E-cadherin protein in 100 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma tissues and cell line Eca-109,EC-9706.RT-PCR was performed to detect the mRNA expression of MMP-2 and E-cadherin in cell line Eca-109,EC-9706.[Results]The positive rate of MMP-2 protein expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma tissues was significantly higher than that in the normal esophageal mucosa(P0.01).MMP-2 expressions was significantly correlated with the differentiation,depth of tumor invasion and lymph node metastasis(P0.05).The positive rate of E-cadherin protein expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma was significantly lower than that in normal esophageal mucosa(P0.01).E-cadherin expressions had negative correlation with the differentiation and lymph node metastasis(P0.05),and had no correlation with the depth of tumor invasion(P0.05).The negative correlation was observed between MMP-2 protein and E-cadherin protein in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma tissues(P0.01).The mRNA expression of MMP-2 and E-cadherin in esophageal cancer cell line Eca-109 and EC-9706 had significant difference(P0.01).[Conclusion]In esophageal squamous cell carcinoma tissue,the strong expression of MMP-2 protein and weak expression E-cadherin protein indicate that they play a reverse role in the genesis,infiltration and metastasis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.Combined detection of MMP-2 and E-cadherin expression can predict exactly malignant biology behavior of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.