To research the expression levels of FEN1 and PCNA in carcinoma-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) and analyze their correlation.

Fresh specimens of oral squamous cell carcinoma tissues and normal oral mucosal tissues excised during oral and maxillofacial plastic surgery were collected. Primary oral CAFs and normal fibroblasts (NFs) were obtained by tissue culture, identified by immunocytochemistry and divided into the CAF and NF groups. Western blot and quantitative real-time PCR were used to detect the protein and mRNA expression levels of both FEN1 and PCNA in the oral CAFs and NFs. The correlation between FEN1 and PCNA expression in oral CAFs was analyzed.

Oral CAFs and oral NFs were successfully cultured and identified from 12 samples. Both the protein and mRNA expression levels of FEN1 and PCNA were higher in the oral CAFs than NFs, but there were no significant differences (P > 0.05). In the oral CAFs, the linear correlation coefficient between FEN1 and PCNA was 0.677 (P = 0.016) at the mRNA level, indicating a strong positive correlation; however, at the protein level, no correlation was found (P > 0.05).

In primary cultured oral CAFs and NFs, there were no significant differences in the FEN1 and PCNA protein and mRNA expression levels. However, in the CAFs, the mRNA levels of FEN1 and PCNA had a strong positive correlation. The relationship and the regulatory mechanism of the two genes require further study.

To observe the effect of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) on the migration of oral carcinoma associated fibroblasts (CAFs) with two-dimensional culture model and three-dimensional model.

Under two-dimensional culture conditions, CAFs stimulated by TGF-β1 with the addition of 10 ng/mL medium were used as the experimental group, and untreated CAFs were used as the control group. The migration of CAFs with the stimulation of TGF-β1 was measured by cell scratch assay and transwell assay. CAFs positive for green fluorescent protein (GFP) were cultured by retrovirus transfection. Human tongue squamous cell carcinoma cells SCC25, GFP(+) CAFs and CAFs with three-dimensional cell co-culture models were established. The three-dimensional model cultured under the stimulation of TGF-β1 with 10 ng/mL medium was used as the experimental group, and the three-dimensional model without TGF-β1 was used as the control group. The migration of CAFs with the stimulation of TGF-β1 was also measured by the three-dimensional models.

It was verified that 10 ng/mL TGF-β1 promoted the migration of CAFs in the two-dimensional culture model. The three-dimensional co-culture models of SCC25, GFP(+) CAFs and CAFs were successfully established. The migration of SCC25 and CAFs was detected in the three-dimensional model. However, 10 ng/mL TGF-β1 had little effect on their migration.

The effect of TGF-β1 in vitro on the migration of oral CAFs was associated with different culture models in two and three dimensions.