Abstract:

Objective To investigate the expression of CXCR7 in several cutaneous malignant tumors including cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma （SCC）, basal cell carcinoma （BCC） and invasive cutaneous malignant melanoma and their cell lines, as well as its significance. Methods Tissue specimens were obtained from the lesions of 30 patients with cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, 25 patients with basal cell carcinoma and 30 patients with cutaneous malignant melanoma. Immunohistochemistry was performed to detect the expression of CXCR7 protein in these tissue specimens and several cell lines （A375 human melanoma cells, M14 human melanoma cells, A431 human epidermoid carcinoma cells, HaCaT human keratinocytes）. The mRNA expression of CXCR7 in these cell lines was measured by reverse transcription PCR. Results CXCR7 protein was apparently expressed in invasive cutaneous malignant melanoma. The high expression rate of CXCR7 protein was significantly elevated in cutaneous malignant melanoma tissue specimens compared with SCC and BCC tissue specimens 〔80% （24/30） vs. 26.67% （8/30） and 8% （2/25）, ?字2 = 17.16, 28.36, both P < 0.05〕. CXCR7 mRNA was expressed in A375, M14 and A431 cells, but not in HaCaT cells, with the strongest expression observed in A375 cells. Immunohistochemistry revealed the expression of CXCR7 protein only in A375 cells. Conclusions CXCR7 is highly expressed in cutaneous malignant melanoma and A375 cells,which may be involved in the malignant invasion and metastasis of melanoma.