CORRELATION OF MIB-1 ANTIGEN EXPRESSION WITH TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS SKN-1, OCT-1, AP-2, AND HPV TYPE IN CERVICAL INTRAEPITHELIAL NEOPLASIA

Recently, interest in transcription factor coding genes has emerged in many human diseases, Transcription factors, responding both to extrac ellular and to intracellular signals, exercise an important regulatory control over the proliferation and differentiation of cells, During t he development of CIN (cervical intraepithelial neoplasia) lesions, no rmal regulation of the cell cycle seems to be disturbed, Transcription factors have been shown in vitro to be intimately involved in the exp ression of HPV (human papillomavirus) early genes, which affect the de velopment of cervical precancer lesions. To test the relevance of in v itro findings in clinical samples, the expression of transcription fac tors Skn-1, Oct-1, and AP-2 was analysed in 31 normal cervical epithel ial samples and in 55 CIN lesions, The results were correlated with th e HPV status and cell proliferation activity of the squamous epitheliu m as measured by MIB-1 antibody. MIB-1 staining is an applicable marke r of CIN, correlating strongly with the CIN grade (P<0.001). The prese nce of HPV DNA did not accelerate the cell proliferation rate or chang e significantly the immunoreactivity of Skn-1, Oct-1, or AP-2 antibodi es, The staining patterns of these transcription factors were signific antly influenced only by the CIN grade, Transcription factors generall y showed weaker expression in the dysplastic samples, although the nuc lear staining of AP-2 increased markedly (P=0.046) in the superficial layer of the CIN III samples, These findings suggest that changes in t he expression of transcription factors may be important in studying th e proliferative activity of CIN lesions. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, L td.