HSP70 and mucin 5B: novel protein targets of N,N'-dinitrosopiperazine-induced nasopharyngeal tumorigenesis

N,N'-Dinitrosopiperazine (DNP) induces nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and shows organ specificity to the nasopharyneal epithelium. To investigate its mechanism, the rat NPC model was inducd using DNP. Rat NPC and normal nasopharyngeal cells were obtained from the NPC model using laser capture. The total proteins from these cell samples were separated with two-dimension polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis techniques, and highly expressed proteins (> five-fold) were analyzed using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight and bioinformatics. The results showed that HSP70 and mucin 5B expression increased not only in rat NPC but also in atypical hyperplasia nasopharyngeal tissues, a precancer stage of NPC. High-expression of heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) and mucin 5B was further supported by western blot analysis. The immunofluorescence and western-blotting studies further showed that DNP induced the expression of HSP70 and mucin 5B in a dosage-dependent manner in normal nasopharyngeal epithelia cells. Our data indicate that DNP triggers over-expression of HSP70 and mucin 5B, and is involved in nasopharyngeal tumorigenesis. HSP70 and mucin 5B may be important targets in nasopharyngeal tumorigenesis induced by DNP. (Cancer Sci 2009; 100: 216-224).