Abstract: Objective To study the expression and significance of CXC chemokine receptor 4（CXCR4）and matrix metalloproteinases-2（MMP-2）in clear cell renal cell carcinoma（ccRCC）tissues.Methods The expression of CXCR4 and MMP-2 mRNA in 88 cases of fresh ccRCC tissues and 48 cases of normal renal tissues were detected by RT-PCR. Meanwhile, the expression of CXCR4 and MMP-2 protein were examined by immunohistochemical PV6000 assay.Results The expression of CXCR4 and MMP-2 mRNA and protein in ccRCC tissues were significantly higher than those in normal ones（P<0.05）. Furthermore, the expression of CXCR4 and MMP-2 in ccRCC tissues had a significant relationship with clinical stage, pathological grade and lymph node metastasis（P<0.05）, while not with gender and age of patients and the diameter of tumors（P>0.05）. Moreover, there was a positive correlation between the expression of CXCR4 and MMP-2 in ccRCC tissues （P<0.05）. Conclusion CXCR4 and MMP-2 may have a synergistic effect in the process of occurrence,development, invasion and metastasis of ccRCC,they may provide a novel strategy for diagnosis and therapy of ccRCC.

Key words: Clear cell renal cell carcinoma, CXCR4, MMP-2, Immunohistochemistry, RT-PCR