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Biological and Clinicopathological Significance of Cripto-1 Expression in the Progression of Human ESCC
Reihaneh Alsadat Mahmoudian1, Mohammad Reza Abbaszadegan2, Mohammad Mahdi Forghanifard3
1Division of Human Genetics, Immunology Research Center, Avicenna Research Institute, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
Background:
Human Cripto-1, a member of the EGF-CFC family, is involved in embryonic development, embryonic stem cell maintenance, and tumor progression. It also participates in multiple cell signaling pathways including Wnt, Notch, and TGF-β. Remarkably, it is expressed in cancer stem cell (CSC) compartments, boosting tumor cell migration, invasion, and angiogenesis. Although Cripto-1 is overexpressed in a variety of human malignant tumors, its expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remains unclear. Our aim in this study was to evaluate the possible oncogenic role of Cripto-1 in ESCC progression and elucidate its association with clinicopathological parameters in patients.
Methods:
In this study, Cripto-1 expression in 50 ESCC tissue samples was analyzed and compared to corresponding margin-normal esophageal tissues using quantitative real-time PCR.
Results:
Cripto-1 was overexpressed in nearly 40% of ESCC samples compared with normal tissue samples. Significant correlations were observed between Cripto-1 expression and tumor differentiation grade, progression stage, and location (p < 0.05).
Conclusions:
Our results indicate that overexpression of Cripto-1 is involved in the development of ESCC. Further assessment will be necessary to determine the role of Cripto-1 cross talk in ESCC tumorigenesis.