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Objective To investigate the expression of Pannexin1 (Panx1) in human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and to analyze the clinical significance of Panx1 expression. Methods Real-time quantitative PCR was used to detect the expression of Panx1 mRNA in 25 NSCLC and matched paracancerous samples. The expressions of Panx1 protein were detected by immunohistochemical staining in 30 samples of NSCLC and matched paracancerous tissues, and 10 samples of normal lung tissues. The relationship between its expression and clinicopathological features was analyzed. Results The expression levels of Panx1 mRNA and Panx1 protein were significantly higher in NSCLC than those in adjacent tissues (P＜0.05). There were no significant differences in positive expression rates of Panx1 between different age, gender, pleural invasion and pathological grading groups of NSCLC patients (P＞0.05). The positive expression rate of Panx1 was higher in the TNM clinical stage Ⅲ-Ⅳ group than that in the Ⅰ-Ⅱ group. The positive expression rate of Panx1 was significantly higher in the lymph node metastasis group than that in the no lymph node metastasis group (P＜0.05). Conclusion Panx1 is highly expressed in NSCLC tissues, but low in normal lung tissues or adjacent tissues, suggesting that Panx1 may play an important role in the occurrence, development and metastasis of NSCLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the role of the pannexin-1 (Panx1) protein in the invasion and migration of testicular cancer Tcam-2 cells and its possible action mechanism., Methods: Tcam-2 cells were treated with carbenoxolone (CBX) at 100 μmol/L and probenecid (PBN) 200 μmol/L. Then the intercellular fluorescence transmission was assessed by real-time fluorescence assay, the extracellular ATP concentration measured by chemi-luminescence immunoassay, the invasive and migratory abilities of the Tcam-2 cells detected by Transwell assay, and the expressions of the proteins Panx1, p-ERK1/2, ERK1/2, vimentin, MMP-9 and E-cadherin in the TM3 Leydig cells and testicular cancer Tcam-2 cells determined by Western blot., Results: Western blot showed that the expression of the Panx1 protein was significantly higher in the testicular cancer Tcam-2 cells than in the TM3 Leydig cells (2.79 ± 0.17 vs 1.00 ± 0.06, P<0.05). The rates of intercellular fluorescence transmission in the Tcam-2 cells treated with CBX and PBN were markedly decreased as compared with the blank control group (［61.54 ± 3.30］% and ［68.06 ± 4.03］% vs ［99.50 ± 3.12］%, P<0.01), and so were the extracellular ATP concentrations (［57.06 ± 5.80］% and ［56.42 ± 7.70］% vs ［110 ± 8.16］%, P<0.01). The numbers of migrated Tcam-2 cells in the CBX and PBN groups were significantly reduced in comparison with that in the control (11.5 ± 1.11 and 8.25 ± 1.23 vs 331.00 ± 30.80, P<0.05), and so were those of the invaded ones (11.75 ± 3.77 and 11.5 ± 3.5 vs 89.00 ± 13.09, P<0.01). CBX and PBN significantly down-regulated the expression of p-ERK1/2 as compared with that in the blank control group (0.538 ± 0.05 and 0.476 ± 0.02 vs 0.98 ± 0.03, P<0.05), as well as those of vimentin (0.541 ± 0.09 and 0.705 ± 0.07, P<0.01) and MMP-9 (0.439 ± 0.08 and 0.557 ± 0.065, P<0.01) but up-regulated that of E-cadherin (3.896 ± 0.06 and 3.551 ± 0.04, P<0.01)., Conclusions: The Panx1 protein is highly expressed in testicular cancer Tcam-2 cells. CBX and PBN can inhibit the function of the panneixn1 channel and reduce the invasive and migratory abilities of the Tcam-2 cells, which is associated with the decreased expression of the p-ERK1/2 protein.