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Updated: Apr 26, 2026

Author Spotlight: Unveiling Transmembrane Protein Family-Related Markers in Gastric Cancer and Implications for Targeted Therapies
Published on: September 15, 2023
Low junctional adhesion molecule A expression correlates with poor prognosis in gastric cancer
Jin-Yu Huang1, Ying-Ying Xu2, Zhe Sun1
1Department of Surgical Oncology, First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
Background:
The aberrant expression of junctional adhesion molecule A (JAM-A), which has a close correlation with the development, progression, metastasis, and prognosis of cancer, has been frequently reported. However, neither JAM-A expression nor its correlation with clinicopathologic variables and patient survival has been defined in gastric cancers. Moreover, little is known about the role of JAM-A in gastric cancer progression. We carried out the present study to investigate the prognostic value of JAM-A expression in gastric cancer patients. Furthermore, the biological roles of JAM-A in gastric cancer progression were also investigated.
Methods:
We determined JAM-A expression in 167 primary gastric cancer tissues and 94 matched adjacent non-tumor tissues by immunohistochemistry. Transwell migration assays and matrigel invasion assays were used to explore the role of JAM-A in gastric cancer cells migration and invasion. CCK-8 assays were used to examine the effect of JAM-A on the proliferation of gastric cancer cells.
Results:
JAM-A was downregulated in gastric cancer tissues. Low JAM-A expression was significantly associated with tumor size, lymphatic vessel invasion, lymph node metastasis, and TNM stage. Low JAM-A expression was also significantly associated with poor disease-specific survival in gastric cancer patients. Multivariate analysis demonstrated low JAM-A expression as an independent factor predicting poor survival. In addition, JAM-A had the effect on inhibition of gastric cancer cells migration and invasion. However, JAM-A had no significant effects on proliferation of gastric cancer cells.
Conclusions:
Low JAM-A expression correlates with poor clinical outcome and promotes cell migration and invasion in gastric cancer.
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