[Expression of telomerase activity and c-myc and stimulatory protein 1 in human ameloblastoma].

OBJECTIVE: To study the oncogene transcriptor c-myc, stimulatory protein 1 (SP1) expression in ameloblastoma (AB) and their relation with telomerase reverse transcripase (hTERT), and to investigate the clinical biological characteristics of AB. METHODS: The expression was observed in AB by in situ hybridization and SP method. RESULTS: The positive rates of c-myc mRNA, hTERT mRNA and SP1 protein were 81.5% (44/54), 94.4% (51/54) and 83.3% (45/54), respectively. Their positive rates increased as AB recurred and transformed malignantly. A strong correlation was found between hTERT and c-myc, hTERT and SP1 (rs = 0.853, P < 0.001; rs = 0.900, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Activity of telomerase plays an important role in the tumorigenesis development of AB. Increasing of hTERT expression may be related to c-myc and SP1. The expression of these three parameters has a significant correlation with the clinical biological characteristics of AB.