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Reduced hGC-1 protein expression is associated with malignant progression of colon carcinoma
Wenli Liu1, Yueqin Liu, Jianqiong Zhu
1Molecular and Clinical Hematology Branch, Digestive Disease Branch, National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA.
Purpose:
hGC-1 (human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor-stimulated clone 1) is a gastrointestinal protein that is a member of the olfactomedin glycoprotein family. Its biological function remains poorly understood. Aberrant expression of hGC-1 in some human carcinomas has been recently reported. The purpose of this study was to examine hGC-1 expression in colon carcinoma and explore the relationship between hGC-1 expression and the clinicopathologic features of patients with colon cancer.
Experimental Design:
The expression of hGC-1 in colon adenocarcinoma tissues was examined by dot-blot analysis, in situ hybridization, and immunohistochemistry. The association of hGC-1 expression pattern with patient differentiation grade, tumor stage, metastasis, and survival were examined. To further investigate the involvement of hGC-1 in colon cancer progression, human colon carcinoma (HT-29) cells overexpressing hGC-1 were established and cell proliferation, adhesion, and migration were studied.
Results:
Compared with normal colon mucosa, the up-regulation of hGC-1 was more frequently detected in more differentiated colon cancers, whereas down-regulation or no expression was associated with poorly differentiated colon cancers. Interestingly, hGC-1 down-regulation was also found in late tumor-node-metastasis stage, metastasis, and in patients with shorter survival. The morphology and cortical actin distribution of HT-29 cells were altered by hGC-1 overexpression. However, this did not change cell proliferation, but decreased cell adhesion and migration.
Conclusion:
Our findings indicate that hGC-1 is involved in colon cancer adhesion and metastasis, and that hGC-1 may be a useful marker for tumor differentiation and progression of human colon carcinoma.
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