Kuo Wen-Ling, Lee Li-Yu, Wu Chi-Ming, Wang Chee-Chan, Yu Jau-Song, Liang Ying, Lo Chih-Hong, Huang Kuo-Hao, Hwang Tsann-Long
Department of Surgery, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Tao-Yuan, Taiwan.
Oncol Rep. 2006 Oct;16(4):729-34.
Our previous microarray analysis of gastric cancer found that claudin-4 was differentially expressed between intestinal-type gastric cancer (IGC) and diffuse-type gastric cancer (DGC). Claudin-4 is a member of a large family of transmembrane proteins, claudins, essential in the formation and maintenance of tight junctions. To explore the roles of claudin-4 in the two histologically distinct types of gastric cancer, we selected 45 IGC and 48 DGC cases and then analyzed the expression of the protein using immunohistochemistry. We found that the overexpression of claudin-4 was greater in IGC than in DGC. A trend was observed between the overexpression of claudin-4 and lymph node metastasis, however, this association was not statistically significant. The results showed that the expression of claudin-4 was lower in DGC. Possibly it played a role in determining the diffuse phenotype and loose cohesion of cells in DGC in a similar manner as E-cadherin.
我们之前对胃癌的微阵列分析发现，紧密连接蛋白4（claudin-4）在肠型胃癌（IGC）和弥漫型胃癌（DGC）中存在差异表达。紧密连接蛋白4是跨膜蛋白紧密连接蛋白大家族的成员之一，在紧密连接的形成和维持中起重要作用。为了探究紧密连接蛋白4在这两种组织学上不同类型胃癌中的作用，我们选取了45例肠型胃癌和48例弥漫型胃癌病例，然后采用免疫组织化学方法分析该蛋白的表达情况。我们发现，紧密连接蛋白4在肠型胃癌中的过表达程度高于弥漫型胃癌。观察到紧密连接蛋白4的过表达与淋巴结转移之间存在一种趋势，然而，这种关联无统计学意义。结果表明，紧密连接蛋白4在弥漫型胃癌中的表达较低。它可能以与E-钙黏蛋白类似的方式在决定弥漫型胃癌的弥漫表型和细胞松散黏附中发挥作用。
