Expression of Integrinβ1 in Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Objective To study the expression of integrin 61 in squamous cell carcinoma(SCC) and explore the relationship between stem cell marker and SCC.Methods The expressions of integrinβ1 in SCC tissues and SCC cell strain A431 were detected with immunohistochemical methods and cell staining method. The differentiation of SCC cells were induced with all-trans-retinoic acid(ATRA).The changes of integrinβ1 levels before and after induction were detected with RT-PCR.Results In highly differentiated SCC tissues, integrinβ1 was constantly expressed in the basal-like cells in the edge of tumor;some cells inside arranged as island also showed positive integrinβ1 expression.In poorly differentiated SCC tissues,island-like integrinβ1-positive cells remarkably increased and distributed in a diffuse way.In SCC A431 cells,integrinβ1 was expressed unevenly in tumor cells.After treatment by ATRA,level of integrinβ1 mRNA in A431 cells significantly decreased compared with untreated control(P0.05 ),and the ratios between the intensity values of integrinβ1 toβ-actin were 0.071±0.025 and 0.029±0.018 at 24 h and 48 h,respectively,whereas in controls were 0.148±0.027 and 0.136±0.011(P0.05).Conclusions Integrinβ1 is heterogeneously expressed in both SCC tissues and SCC A431 cells.The expression of Integrinβ1 decreases when the differentiation level of tumor cells increase,indicating that integrinβ1 is closely related with the initiation of SCC and potential cancer stem cells in SCC.