Zhang Xiu-Feng, Zhang Ying, Zhang Xiao-Hua, Zhou Su-Mei, Yang Guan-Gen, Wang Ou-Chen, Guo Gui-Long, Yang Gao-Yi, Hu Xiao-Qu
Department of Oncological Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical College, Wenzhou, 325000, PR China.
BMC Cancer. 2009 May 6;9:134. doi: 10.1186/1471-2407-9-134.
Emerging evidence has demonstrated that Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) is up-regulated in multiple malignancies, including oesophagus cancer, and plays a critical role in tumorigenesis and progression. However, till now, little is known about the role of NGAL in human rectal cancer. Its association with clinicopathologic characteristics and expression of MMP-9, one of its target genes, has not been reported systematically in rectal cancer. Therefore, to further determine the potential involvement of NGAL in rectal cancer, we have evaluated the expression level of NGAL mRNA by real time RT-PCR, and further elucidated the correlation of NGAL mRNA expression with clinicopathologic features and MMP-9 in rectal cancer.
100 paired samples of rectal cancer and adjacent normal tissues obtained from inpatients undergoing surgical operation were allocated into two groups (cancer group and control group). The mRNA expression of NGAL and MMP-9 was determined by real-time RT-PCR. The association between their expression and clinicopathological characteristics of rectal cancer were analysised.
Among the 100 rectal cancers, 69 cases of NGAL mRNA up-regulation were observed. NGAL mRNA up-regulation was positively correlated with MMP-9 (rs = 0.393, p < 0.001). In rectal cancer, NGAL mRNA overexpression was significantly associated with depth of invasion (p = 0.028), lymph node metastasis (p = 0.009), venous involvement (p = 0.023) and advanced pTNM stage (p = 0.011).
In human rectal cancer, NGAL mRNA expression was elevated. NGAL mRNA up-regulation was correlated significantly with tumor progression and MMP-9 mRNA overexpression in rectal cancer, suggesting a more aggressive phenotype. NGAL could be used for rectal cancer characterization.
新出现的证据表明，中性粒细胞明胶酶相关脂质运载蛋白（NGAL）在包括食管癌在内的多种恶性肿瘤中表达上调，并在肿瘤发生和进展中起关键作用。然而，迄今为止，关于NGAL在人类直肠癌中的作用知之甚少。其与临床病理特征以及其靶基因之一基质金属蛋白酶-9（MMP-9）表达的相关性在直肠癌中尚未有系统报道。因此，为进一步确定NGAL在直肠癌中的潜在作用，我们通过实时逆转录聚合酶链反应（RT-PCR）评估了NGAL mRNA的表达水平，并进一步阐明了直肠癌中NGAL mRNA表达与临床病理特征及MMP-9的相关性。
将100对从接受手术的住院患者中获取的直肠癌及癌旁正常组织样本分为两组（癌症组和对照组）。通过实时RT-PCR测定NGAL和MMP-9的mRNA表达。分析它们的表达与直肠癌临床病理特征之间的关联。
在100例直肠癌中，观察到69例NGAL mRNA上调。NGAL mRNA上调与MMP-9呈正相关（rs = 0.393，p < 0.001）。在直肠癌中，NGAL mRNA过表达与浸润深度（p = 0.028）、淋巴结转移（p = 0.009）、静脉侵犯（p = 0.023）及pTNM晚期（p = 0.011）显著相关。
在人类直肠癌中，NGAL mRNA表达升高。NGAL mRNA上调与直肠癌的肿瘤进展及MMP-9 mRNA过表达显著相关，提示其具有更具侵袭性的表型。NGAL可用于直肠癌的特征描述。
