Expression and Significance of Cyclophilin J in Primary Gastric Adenocarcinoma

Biomarkers are essential in early diagnosis and understanding of the molecular mechanism of human cancer. The expression of cyclophilin J, a novel member of the cyclophilin family, was investigated in primary gastric adenocarcinoma.

Western blot analysis was carried out on 36 paired tumor and normal tissue samples; immunohistochemical analysis was carried out on 120 gastric carcinoma tissues and normal adjacent tissue.

Cyclophilin J protein was overexpressed in 72.2% of gastric carcinoma tissues compared to adjacent normal tissues. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that cyclophilin J was overexpressed in 49.2% (59/120) and 23.3% (28/120) of gastric carcinoma tissues and adjacent tissues, respectively (p<0.05). Expression of cyclophilin J was associated with the degree of differentiation, but not with lymph node metastasis, gender or depth of tumor infiltration. The overall survival of patients showed no association with the overexpression of cyclophilin J protein.

Cyclophilin J expression was up-regulated in gastric carcinoma compared to normal gastric tissues. However, in order to confirm its association with the survival of patients with gastric cancer, more cases need to be studied.