Abstract:

Objective　To investigate the expressions of human papillomavirus 16E6 （HPV16 E6） and human wings apart-like gene （hWAPL） in different levels of cervical lesions and the relationship of HPV16E6 and hWAPL protein with cervical cancer， and to provide the reference for the early diagnosis of cervical cancer. Methods　By immunohistochemistry， the paraffin-embedded blocks with different levels of cervical lesions were detected， including 49 patients with cervical intraepitelial neoplasia （CIN） Ⅰ or CIN Ⅱ， 33 patients with CIN Ⅲ or carcinoma in situ， 28 patients with invasive cervical carcinoma （ICC） and 16 patients with normal cervical epithelium. Results　In normal， CINⅠ or Ⅱ， CIN Ⅲ and ICC groups， the positive expression rates of HPV16E6 and hWAPL showed gradually increasing trend. The positive expression rates of HPV16E6 and hWAPL in CIN Ⅲ and ICC groups had statistical significance with those in normal and CIN Ⅰ or CIN Ⅱ groups （P＜0.05）. Between CIN Ⅲ and ICC groups， the positive expression rate of HPV16E6 had statistical significance （P＜0.05）， but the positive expression rate of hWAPL protein had no obvious difference （P＝0.372）. HPV16E6 and hWAPL expression strengthes in ICC group and CIN Ⅲ group were obviously higher than those in CIN Ⅰ or Ⅱ group and normal group （P＜0.05）， and there was no obvious difference between ICC and CIN Ⅲ groups （P>0.05）. The 57 of 64 patients （89.06%） with HPV16E6 had the positive expression of hWAPL protein， 15 of 62 patients （24.19%） with no HPV16E6 had the positive expression of hWAPL protein. By statistical analysis， both HPV16E6 and hWAPL protein had significant correlation （P＜0.05）， and it showed that the infection intensity of HPV16E6 and the expression of hWAPL had positive correlation （r＝0.595， P＜0.001）. Conclusions　The hWAPL may be a cervical cancer-specific gene and expresses highly， and it may be important in the pathogenesis of cervical cancer. The hWAPL may become the new target gene for the diagnosis， treatment and lesion identification of cervical cancer.

Key words: Human papillomavirus 16 E6, Human wings apart-like gene, Cervical cancer, Immunohistochemistry