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RNA from brush oral cytology to measure squamous cell carcinoma gene expression
Joel L Schwartz1, Suchismita Panda, Craig Beam
1Department of Oral Medicine Diagnostic Sciences, Center for Molecular Biology of Oral Diseases, College of Dentistry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60610, USA.
Background:
RNA expression analysis of oral keratinocytes can be used to detect early stages of disease such as oral cancer or to monitor on-going treatment responses of the same or other oral diseases. A limitation is the inability to obtain high quality RNA from oral tissue without using biopsies. While oral cytology cell samples can be obtained from patients in a minimally invasive manner they have not been validated for quantitative analysis of RNA expression.
Methods:
As a starting point in the analysis of tumor markers in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), we examined RNA in brush cytology samples from hamsters treated with dibenzo[a,l]pyrene to induce oral carcinoma. Three separate samples from each animal were assessed for expression of candidate marker genes and control genes measured with real-time RT-PCR.
Results:
Brush oral cytology samples from normal mucosa were shown to consist almost exclusively of epithelial cells. Remarkably, ss-2 microglobulin and cytochrome p450, 1B1 (CYP1B1) RNA showed potential utility as markers of OSCC in samples obtained in this rapid and non-surgical manner.
Conclusion:
Brush oral cytology may prove useful as a source of RNA for gene expression analysis during the progression of diseases of the oral epithelium such as OSCC.
