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Updated: Aug 31, 2026
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Published on: April 12, 2024
Enolase-alpha is frequently down-regulated in non-small cell lung cancer and predicts aggressive biological behavior
Yoon Soo Chang1, Weiguo Wu, Garrett Walsh
1Molecular Biology Laboratory, Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, 77030, USA.
Purpose:
Enolase-alpha is a cytoplasmic glycolytic enzyme important in the formation of phosphoenolpyruvate. Enolase-alpha and c-myc binding protein (MBP-1) originate from a single gene through alternative use of translational starting sites. Both enolase-alpha and MBP-1 can bind to the P2 element in the c-myc promoter and compete with TATA-box binding protein (TBP) to suppress transcription of c-myc.
Experimental Design:
To determine a potential role of enolase-alpha in vivo, we analyzed enolase-alpha expression in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tissues from 46 patients by Western blotting and immunohistochemical analysis.
Results:
Twelve (26%) of the 46 tumors showed a significantly reduced enolase-alpha expression. Although no statistically significant association was observed between the down-regulation of enolase-alpha and pathological stage, tumor histology, or differentiation, the patients whose tumors showed reduced enolase-alpha expression had a significantly poorer overall survival compared with those without down-regulation of this molecule (P = 0.0398).
Conclusions:
Our results indicate down-regulation of enolase-alpha is common in NSCLC and may play an important role in lung tumorigenesis.
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