Protein and mRNA characterization in human colorectal carcinoma cell lines with different metastatic potentials

Metastasis, the important characteristic of malignant tumors, is closely associated with a series of changes in the expressions of genes and proteins. In this study, we compared mRNA and protein expressions in a pair of human colorectal carcinoma cell lines named SW620 and SW480 with different metastatic potentials by suppression subtractive hybridization and 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis combined with the matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometer. After suppression subtractive hybridization and differential screening, 24 differentially expressed gene fragments were obtained, including 9 known genes and 15 novel genes. Nine known genes, such as Cytochrome C, Oxidase II and III, Serum amyloid A, Mitotic Control Protein dis3, Eukaryotic Translation Initiation Factor 4A, function in the process of growth and differentiation, transcription, apoptosis, signal transduction. Six novel genes were found to locate in chromosome 5. Northern blot further confirmed the results. For protein analysis, 16 significantly different protein spots were detected using 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis and peptide mass fingerprinting analysis. The results were confirmed by Western blot. The peptide mass fingerprintings of spots were then compared with the NCBI and SWISS PROT database. The differentially expressed proteins included Galectin-1, Annexin A1, Casein kinase 2, Cytochrome c oxidase subunit VIb, S-100D calcium-binding protein, which may be involved in cell differentiation and proliferation, signal transduction, cell adhesion and migration, and tumor evasion of immune responses. An analysis of these genes and proteins reiterated much of our understanding of the metastatic process and also offered some identified targets without previously characterized functions, especially the novel metastasis associated genes, to be further investigated. Moreover, the results of the phenotypic function-related expression mapping analysis at the mRNA and protein level revealed obvious complementarities, providing important clues for further study of the molecular mechanism of metastasis, metastasis control and possible targets for cancer gene therapy.