Abstract:

Objective To observe the effect of fibroblast activation protein（FAP）on the proliferationand apoptosis of eyelid basal cell carcinoma⁃associated fibroblasts（CAFs）. Methods Eyelid CAFs and normalfibroblasts（NFs）were isolated，cultured and identified. CAFs were randomly divided into control group，overex⁃pression group（FAP），knockdown group（FAP shRNA），empty group（random shRNA）and inhibitor group［FAP shRNA+bpv］. MTT method was used to observe the proliferation；flow cytometry to detect apoptosis andwestern blot method to detect eyelid CAFs FAP，PTEN，phosphatidyl inositol⁃3⁃kinase（PI3K），p⁃PI3K，serine⁃threonine protein kinase（Akt）and p⁃Akt protein. Results Eyelid CAFs and NFs were cultured and identified.Compared with those of the control group and empty group，the absorbance（A）value of the overexpression groupincreased；apoptosis rate decreased；FAP，p⁃PI3K and p⁃Akt protein increased and PTEN protein decreased. Avalue of the knockdown and inhibitor group decreased；apoptosis rates increased；FAP，p⁃PI3K，and p⁃Akt pro⁃tein decreased and PTEN protein increased（P < 0.05）. A value，p⁃PI3K and p⁃Akt protein of the inhibitor groupwere higher than those in the knockdown group，but the rate of apoptosis and PTEN protein were lower（P < 0.05）.Conclusion Overexpression of FAP can promote the proliferation of CAFs and inhibit their apoptosis，possibly byinhibiting PTEN and activating the PI3K/AKT pathway.

Key words: eyelid basal cell carcinoma, fibroblast activation protein, proliferation, apoptosis, PI3K/AKT pathway