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Background: The roles of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappa B) and activating protein 1 (AP-1) become well-known in cell apoptosis and proliferation and oncogenesis. This study aims to explore expression of NF-kappa B and AP-1 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the relationship between them and their function on expression of cyclin D1 and caspase 3 in NSCLC., Methods: Protein expression of NF-kappa B, AP-1 , cyclin D1 and caspase 3 was detected by Western blot and mRNA expression of cyclin D1 and caspase 3 by RT-PCR. Correlation between NF-kappa B and AP-1 was analyzed using bivariate correlate analysis., Results: Of all 45 NSCLC patients, the expression of NF-kappa B and AP-1 in NSCLC was higher than that in normal lung tissues (0.6047 versus 0.2798, P < 0.01). Protein and mRNA expression of cyclin D1 in lung cancer tissues with higher NF-kappa B and AP-1 protein expression was higher than in those with lower NF-kappa B and AP-1 protein expression (P < 0.01), while protein and mRNA expression of caspase 3 in lung cancer tissues with higher NF-kappa B and AP-1 protein expression was lower than in those with lower NF-kappa B and AP-1 protein expression (P < 0.01). There was significant correlation between NF-kappa B and AP-1 (r=0.800, P < 0.01)., Conclusions: Transcription factors, NF-kappa B and AP-1 may play important roles in oncogenesis and development of NSCLC.

Background: Biochemical and genetic researches suggest that ras protein plays an important role in transduction process of cell proliferation differentiation signals from activated transmembrane receptors to substream protein kinases. This study is to explore the expression of ras, p38, both of which are members of MAPK (mitogen activated protein kinases) signal transduction pathway, and STAT3 (signal transducer and activator of transcription 3) in non-small cell lung cancer, and the association among them., Methods: Forty-two resected lung cancer and paracancerous lung tissue samples were used to determine the protein expression of ras, p38 and STAT3 with Western blot, the mRNA expression of p38 and STAT3 in lung cancer tissues of various ras protein expression with RT-PCR. The location of p38 and STAT3 in lung cancer tissues was revealed with immunofluorescent staining., Results: The relative protein expressions of ras, p38 and STAT3 were 0.6012, 0.6724, 0.5119 in cancer tissues, and 0.2793, 0.3071, 0.1917 in paracancerous lung tissues, respectively (P < 0.01). The protein and mRNA expressions of p38 and STAT3 ( 0.7624 and 0.6262; 1.0309 and 1.0538) in cancer tissues with higher ras protein expression were remarkably higher than those with lower ras protein expression (0.4715 and 0.2569; 0. 6569 and 0.3437, P < 0.01). There was a significant correlation between the expression of ras, p38 and STAT3 (correlation coefficient: 0.809 and 0.842, P < 0.01), and so was the p38 and STAT3 (correlation coefficient: 0.829, P < 0.01)., Conclusions: Abnormal expressions of STAT3 and some factors of ras-MAPK signal transduction pathway exist in the oncogenesis and development of non-small cell lung cancer, and many of them may have crosstalk.