Association between TAp73, p53 and VASH1 expression in lung adenocarcinoma.

TAp73 and p53 are involved in regulating tumor angiogenesis and vasohibin-1 (VASH1) is an anti-angiogenic factor. Whether TAp73 regulates angiogenesis positively or negatively is controversial. The status of P53 may determine the effect of TAp73 on angiogenesis. To the best of our knowledge it has not been previously reported whether TAp73, p53 and VASH1 are coexpressed in lung cancer. We profiled the association between TAp73 and p53 and VASH1 expression in lung adenocarcinoma (LAC) and investigated the function of TAp73 in regulating tumor angiogenesis. TAp73, p53 and VASH1 expression in 53 human LAC tissues and the adjacent normal tissues were evaluated using immunohistochemistry. The positive expression rates of p53, TAp73 and VASH1 were significantly higher (92.6, 97.7 and 67.4%, respectively) in LAC tissue compared with paraneoplastic lung tissue (7.4, 2.3 and 32.6%, respectively, P<0.01). Pearson's correlation coefficient showed a significant positive correlation between p53 and TAp73 (r=0.474, P<0.01) and TAp73α and VASH1 (r=0.367, P<0.01). The positive expression rate of p53 and VASH1 was almost significantly correlated (r=0.187, P=0.055). Similarly, p53 expression intensity had a significant positive correlation with TAp73α (r=0.517, P<0.01) and with VASH1 (r=0.277, P<0.01), as did TAp73α with VASH1 (r=0.351, P<0.01). TAp73, p53 (mutant) and VASH1 expression was significantly higher in LAC tissue compared with paraneoplastic lung tissue. The expression trends of the three proteins were significantly positively correlated with each other in LAC. These results suggest that TAp73 may suppress tumor angiogenesis in LAC.