Upregulation of serum vascular endothelial growth factor and matrix metalloproteinase-3 in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is known as a fundamental regulator of angiogenesis that accelerates cellular proliferation, vascular permeability, and endothelial cell migration and is an inhibitor of apoptosis. Extracellular matrix degradation by matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) is necessary for endothelial cell proliferation, migration, and metastasis. Accordingly, the objective of the present study was to determine the circulating levels of VEGF and MMP3 and their relation in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma. Using an ELISA kit, the circulating levels of VEGF and MMP-3 in the sera of 45 patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and 45 healthy controls were assessed. Mean VEGF levels in the sera of patients with OSCC (122.4 ± 36.1) were significantly higher than those in controls (65.3 ± 23.4); however, no relation was found between VEGF levels and clinicopathologic factors. The serum MMP-3 level in OSCC patients was significantly higher (9.45 ± 4.6 ng/ml, n=45) than that in healthy controls (5.9 ± 3.6 ng/ml, n=45). There was no correlation in serum MMP-3 concentration with clinicopathologic features such as tumor stage, tumor size, nodal status, and histological grade. A significant relationship was found between serum levels of VEGF and MMP3. This study concludes that VEGF and MMP3 may have a potential role in the pathogenesis of OSCC but cannot be used as a tool for monitoring tumor progression. Moreover, the role of VEGF in the regulation of angiogenesis is in part due to activation of MMP-3.

Elevated VEGFA mRNA levels in oral squamous cell carcinomas and tumor margins: a preliminary study

“…VEGF is a pro‐angiogenic factor in tumor angiogenesis, which is released by neoplastic cells, infiltrating inflammatory cells, endothelial cells, and fibroblasts . In fact, we detected VEGFA protein expression in the cytoplasm of parenchymal and stromal cells in OSCC samples, including fibroblasts and endothelial cells, and similar findings have been reported in other study .…”

Potential role of differentially expressed lncRNAs in the pathogenesis of oral squamous cell carcinoma

“…More recently, elevated plasma level of MMP9 is proved to be valuable to identify metastatic phenotype and as treatment monitor in patients with OSCC (Patel, Shah, Shukla, Shah, & Patel, 2007). Additionally, up-regulated MMP3 has been identified to play a potential role in the pathogenesis of OSCC and activated MMP3 might contribute to regulate angiogenesis that is a key process of tumor metastasis (Andisheh-Tadbir et al, 2014). Consistent with previous studies, result of function enrichment in the present study demonstrated that the three MMPs were involved in tumor metastasis of OSCC.…”

TNF-α stimulates MMP-3 production via PGE2 signalling through the NF-kB and p38 MAPK pathway in a murine cementoblast cell line

“…Moreover, the increase expression of MMP-3 correlated with the stage of tumour suggesting the participation of this enzyme in the pathogenesis and progression of the disease. 41,42 In an attempt to asses where MMP-3 was stored following its synthesis, we analysed the presence of the protein in three different preparations: in conditioned media, in cell lysates without trypsin treatment and in cell lysates obtained following trypsin treatment. The highest level of the enzyme was found in the cell lysates without trypsin treatment preparation.…”