Expression of MUC4, MUC 15, MMP-13, and TIMP-3 in papillary thyroid carcinoma

Abstract

[영문]Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is the most frequent malignancy among thyroid carcinomas. The aim of this study is to investigate the expression of membrane mucins MUC 4 and MUC15, and MMP-13 and TIMP3 which has regulatory effects on MMP-13 activity in PTC, and to examine their clinicopathological correlations, such as invasive and metastatic characteristics. We analyzed the expression of MUC4, MUC15, MMP-13, and TIMP-3 between 10 PTC and 10 normal thyroid tissues using real time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. A tissue array block was made using tissue from 98 cases of PTC tissue and immunohistochemical study was conducted using sectioned slides from the tissue array block. The semiquantitative scoring was compared with the clinicopathological factors to evaluate the prognostic significance in PTC patients.MUC4- and MUC15- specific mRNAs increased approximately by 78-fold and 4.75-fold respectively in PTC compared to normal thyroid tissues. MMP-13 and TIMP-3 gene expression decreased approximately by approximately 0.39-fold and 0.53-fold respectively. MUC4 and MUC15 protein expression increased in PTC compared to normal thyroid tissues (P<0.001). MMP-13 and TIMP-3 protein expression decreased in PTC compared to normal thyroid tissues (P<0.001). The MUC4 high scores significantly correlated with small tumor size, and papillary thyroid microcarcinoma subtype. The MUC15 high scores significantly correlated with age (>45 years), distant metastasis, and multifocality.The present study of PTC suggests that membrane mucins MUC4 and MUC15 were overexpressed in PTC, and high levels of MUC15 expression was associated with high malignant potential. MUC15 may serve as a prognostic marker and may be a potential novel therapeutic target in this disease.