OCT-4 and DAZL expression in precancerous lesions of the human uterine cervix.

Aim: To determine whether octamer-binding transcription factor 4 (OCT-4) and deleted in azoospermia like (DAZL) are expressed among cells with human papilloma virus (HPV) infection and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) lesions and quantify their relative expression when compared with normal cervical cultures.

Methods: Cervical cells derived from normal cell cultures, HPV lesions and CIN lesions were cultured in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium supplemented with 20% amniotic fluid and 5 ng/mL basic fibroblast growth factor at 37°C and humidified 10% CO2 in air. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was carried out using G6PD as a reference. We used REST for statistical analysis of real-time PCR.

Results: Whereas DAZL was not expressed either in normal cultures or HPV and CIN lesions, OCT-4 was expressed in all examined cell lines. Moreover its relative expression was significantly upregulated among cultures of HPV-infected cells (RE, 11.003; 95%CI: 0.054-36 704.527, P = 0.042), an observation that was also close to statistical significance among cultures of CIN lesions (P = 0.066).

Conclusion: The relative expression of OCT-4 is upregulated during the early, preinvasive stages of cervical carcinogenesis. Future studies should investigate its potential as a screening marker and as a possible target of therapy.