Wnt3、Wnt3a在胃癌组织中的表达及意义

Significance of expression of Wnt3 and Wnt3a in gastric carcinoma

目的:探讨Wnt3、Wnt3a、Wnt5a、Wnt8a和β-catenin基因在胃癌及慢性萎缩性胃炎(chronic atrophic gastritis,CAG)组织中的表达及在胃癌发生、发展中的作用.方法:应用Real-time RT-PCR方法检测26例CAG和40例胃癌组织中Wnt3、Wnt3a、Wnt5a、Wnt8a mRNA的表达情况,Westernblot检测β-catenin蛋白的表达.结果:Wnt3和Wnt3a mRNA的表达在胃癌组织中较CAG中升高(1.9940±0.1311vs1.3349±0.2487,P<0.05;2.3033±0.3979vs1.2835±0.2815,P<0.05),并与胃癌的淋巴结转移及TNM分期具有相关性,而Wnt5a和Wnt8a在两种组织中的表达无显著差异(P>0.05),Western blot结果显示β-catenin蛋白在胃癌中表达升高(0.6290±0.1369,0.2341±0.0975,P<0.05).结论:Wnt/β-catenin信号通路在胃癌组织中呈活化状态,而Wnt3和Wnt3a可能在启动此通路的激活过程中起到了主要作用,并参与了胃癌的发生发展.

AIM： To detect the expression of Wnt3, Wnt3a, Wnt5a, Wnt8a andβ-catenin in chronic atrophic gastritis （CAG） and gastric carcinoma （GC）, and to investigate the role of the Wnt signaling path- way in the pathogenesis of GC. METHODS： The mRNA expression of Wnt3, Wnt3a, Wnt5a and Wnt8a in 26 fresh CAG and 40 GC tissue samples was examined using Real-time RT-PCR. The protein expression of β-catenin was detected by Western blot RESULTS： The mRNA expression levels of Wnt3 and Wnt3a were significantly increased in GC （1.9940 ±0.1311 vs 1.3349 ±0.2487, P 〈 0.05; 2.3033± 0.3979 vs 1.2835 ± 0.2815, P 〈 0.05） and were associated with lymph node metastasis and TNM stage. The expression of Wnt5a and Wnt8a did not significantly differ between CAG and GC （both P 〉 0.05）. Western blot analysis showed that the relative expression of β-catenin protein was significantly elevated in GC com- pared with CAG （0.6290 ± 0.1369 vs 0.2341± 0.0975, P 〈 0.05）. CONCLUSION： Our results suggest that Wnt3 and Wnt3a may be critically involved in the acti- vation of the Wnt signaling pathway and in the carcinogenesis and progression of GC.