Dermatopontin as a potential pathogenic factor in endometrial cancer

The present study aimed to determine the differential expression profiles of proteins in endometrial carcinoma and to screen the proteins associated with the occurrence and development of endometrial cancer (EC). In total, 15 samples of human EC and paracancerous tissues were selected for proteomic analysis using a label-free quantification method based on liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The differential proteins were analysed using bioinformatics and verified using reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) and western blotting. Finally, the expression of differential proteins in 75 endometrial carcinoma samples and 30 normal endometrial tissue samples were detected using immunohistochemical staining, and the associations between differential protein expression and clinicopathological features were analysed. In total, 579 up-regulated proteins and 346 down-regulated proteins were identified between the two groups and seven proteins with the most significant differences were selected; these proteins included interferon-induced protein with tetratricopeptide repeats 3, poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase family member 9, solute carrier family 34 member 2, cytochrome b5 reductase 1, protein tyrosine phosphatase non-receptor type 1, dermatopontin (DPT) and secretory leukocyte peptidase inhibitor. RT-qPCR and western blotting showed that DPT expression was down-regulated (P<0.001), which was consistent with the mass spectrometry results. The immunohistochemical staining results showed that the positive expression of DPT in EC and normal endometrial tissues was statistically significant (P<0.001). The positive expression of DPT was significantly decreased in poorly differentiated, late stage, lymph node metastasis and myometrial invasion depth ≥1/2 samples (P<0.05). DPT expression was significantly lower in EC, which might play role in the pathogenesis of EC.