Abstract: Objective To investigate the expression of HINT1 mRNA in the tissue of malignant melanoma and nevocellular nevus. Methods Half-quantitative RT-PCR was used to measure the expression of HINT1/PKCI-1 mRNA in fresh and archival tissues of 25 patients with malignant melanoma and 25 patients with nevus. Results In the case of the same specimen, the expression of HINT/PKCI-1 mRNA showed no difference in the tissue treated with formalin fixation and paraffin embedment with that in the fresh tissue. The expression level of HINT/PKCI1 mRNA was 0.49±0.04 in nevus and 0.31±0.07 in malignant melanoma, and the difference was significant (P<0.05). Conclusion The Results indicate that the reduced expression of HINT1 mRNA might be related to the pathogenesis of malignant melanoma.

Key words: Nevus, Melanoma, HINT