Abstract: Objective　To investigate expression and clinical significance of NOD1 in tougue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC). Methods　Immunohistochemical staining and RT-qPCR were applied to evaluate NOD1 expression in TSCC and non-cancer tougue epithelial tissues. Its clinical significance would also be analyzed. T-test was performed to assess the statistical significance of mRNA expression between the two groups using SPSS 13.0. Among many groups (>2 groups), statistical significance was determined by two-way analysis of variance. Results　NOD1 was expressed in the cytoplasm. NOD1 expression was significantly lower in TSCC tissues (60 .0％, 15/25）than that in non-cancer tougue epithelial tissues（80 .0％，20/25 (P <0.05). NOD1 messenger RNA expression in TSCC tissues was 0.437±0.103 times of that in non-cancer tougue epithelial tissues(p<0.05). Conclusion　The RNA and protein expression of NOD1 are significantly lower in TSCC. However, further studies with functional evaluation of the NOD1 are warranted to replicate and extend the significance of the findings.

Key words: NOD1, tongue squamous cell carcinoma, expression and clinical significance