Table 3. Cumulative expression pattern of AP-1 family proteins and their downstream gene products in precancer and cancer of the tongue and normal adjacent tongue tissue as observed by immunoblotting.
| Target Proteins(↓) Expression Level (→) |
Normal adjacent controls (n = 30) |
Precancer (n = 20) |
Tongue cancer (n = 50) |
p-value | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nil (−) | Weak (+) | Moderate (++) | Strong (++++) | Nil (−) | Weak (+) | Moderate (++) | Strong (++++) | Nil (−) | Weak (+) | Moderate (++) | Strong (++++) | ||
| c-Jun | 6 | 14 | 10 | — | — | 10 | 8 | 2 | — | 4 | 16 | 30 | 0.2 (ns)1, 0.00012, 0.00023 |
| JunB | 2 | 10 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 20 | 25 | 0.7 (ns)1, 0.0032, 0.0063 |
| JunD | 5 | 15 | 10 | — | 1 | 4 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 12 | 32 | 0.0081, 0.00012, 0.4 (ns)3 |
| c-Fos | 2 | 20 | 8 | — | — | 2 | 10 | 8 | — | — | 10 | 40 | 0.00011, 0.00012, 0.073 |
| FosB | 4 | 9 | 14 | 3 | — | 5 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 30 | 0.2 (ns)1, 0.042, 0.7 (ns)3 |
| Fra-1 | — | 5 | 10 | 15 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 5 | 27 | 14 | 7 | 2 | 0.4 (ns)1, 0.00012, 0.00013 |
| Fra-2 | 5 | 20 | 5 | — | — | 2 | 10 | 8 | — | — | 12 | 38 | 0.00011,0.00012, 0.073 |
| Bcl-2 | 4 | 18 | 8 | — | — | 5 | 9 | 6 | — | 1 | 15 | 34 | 0.4 (ns)1, 0.062, 0.0063 |
| MMP-9 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 2 | — | 2 | 15 | 3 | — | — | 10 | 40 | 0.0021, 0.00012, 0.073 |
| CyclinD1 | 7 | 12 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 39 | 0.0081, 0.00012, 0.0093 |
#Arbitrary level of expression as detected by immunoblotting: Nil/not detectable (−); Weak (+); Moderate (++); Strong (++++). P-value obtained by probability Fisher’s (exact) test using Graph pad Instat 6.0 comparing the expression of proteins (nil + weak vs. moderate + strong) among 1Control vs. Pre-cancer, 2Control vs. Cancer, 3Pre-cancer vs. Cancer. P-values in bold (≤0.05) are considered as statistically significant. ns = not significant.