EXPRESSION OF BCL-2 ASSOCIATED ATHANOGENE-1 (BAG-1) AND HEAT SHOCK PROTEIN 70 IN HUMAN ORAL SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA

Abstract

This study was conducted to immunohistochemically investigate the expression of BAG-1 and HSP70 in different grades of OSCCand to correlate the expression of these markers with the tumor grading. The material of this study consisted of twenty five formalin fixed, paraffin embedded specimens of OSCC. Eleven cases were diagnosed as welldifferentiated OSCC, nine cases were diagnosed as moderately differentiated OSCC and five cases were diagnosed as poorly differentiated OSCC. Also, five cases of normal oral mucosa, obtained from gingivectomy, were used as control group. Immunohistochemical staining was performed using the biotin-streptavidin immunoperoxidasemethod. Antibodies against BAG-1 and HSP70 were used. The immunostained slides were examined by light microscopy and photographed. The photographs were analyzed using image analysis software, then the results was statistically analysed. For all cases, the area fraction of immunopositivity for four different microscopic fields was measured. The mean area fraction for each case was thencalculated and used for statistical analysis. Immunohistochemical results of the present study revealed that the mean area fraction of BAG-1and HSP70 immunopositivity were increased with high tumor grade.