Analysis of SET and MYND Domain-Containing Protein 3 (SMYD3) Expression in Gallbladder Cancer: a Pilot Study

The Suvar, Enhancer of zeste, and Trithorax (SET) and myeloid-Nervy-DEAF-1 (MYND) domain-containing protein 3 (SMYD3) is a histone lysine methyltransferase and has been recently unveiled to play significant roles in the progression of human cancer via regulating various key cancer-associated genes and pathways. The role of SMYD3 in gallbladder cancer (GBC) still needs to be studied. In the present study, we examined the SMYD3 gene expression at mRNA and protein level to look its impact on risk for developing gallbladder carcinogenesis. SMYD3 expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry and reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) from 30 cases each of GBC and cholelithiasis patients. The expression was compared with different clinicopathological parameters. The SMYD3 expression was found to be significantly upregulated in GBC than cholelithiasis group (p < 0.05). The SMYD3 with increased expression level was observed in 73.3% of the GBC cases (p < 0.05). Moreover, mRNA SMYD3 expression was observed in 73.3% of GBC and 10% of control (p < 0.05). Our results indicated that the overexpression of SMYD3 plays an important role in the GBC progression, and SMYD3 may represent useful biomarker for gallbladder cancer patients.