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Updated: Dec 29, 2025

Multi-photon Imaging of Tumor Cell Invasion in an Orthotopic Mouse Model of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Published on: July 25, 2011
AEG-1 promotes angiogenesis and may be a novel treatment target for tongue squamous cell carcinoma
Shan Chen1, Lei-Hui Chen2, Yan-Hong Niu3
1Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Background:
The study explored the potential function of astrocyte elevated gene-1 (AEG-1) on angiogenesis in tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC) in TSCC cell lines.
Methods:
The different degrees of angiogenesis were detected in TSCC cell lines expressing different levels of AEG-1 by chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) experimental model. Next, we established xenografts of different TSCC cell lines with different expression levels of AEG-1 in nude mice and conducted immunohistochemistry to evaluate the expression of the angiogenesis-associated factor, that is, vascular endothelial growth receptor factor 2 (VEGFR-2) and microvessel density (MVD). Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was detected by ELISA.
Results:
CAM assay showed that the number of vessels was significantly reduced in AEG-1-down um1 cell line (p < .05), whereas the number was significantly increased in AEG-1-over um2 cell line (p < .05). Moreover, up-regulated AEG-1 expression level was associated with higher tumor angiogenesis, which was reflected by augmented expression levels of VEGF (p < .01), VEGFR-2 (p < .05), and MVD counting (p < .01).
Conclusions:
This study demonstrated that AEG-1 can promote tumor angiogenesis in TSCC and inhibition of tumor angiogenesis by repressing the expression of AEG-1 may be a novel potential treatment approach for TSCC.
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