OBJECTIVETo investigate the expression of cancer-related gene MPS-1 in gastric cancer and to evaluate its significance in clinical diagnosis and therapy.

METHODSThe mRNA expression of MPS-1 was determined by polymerase chain reaction after reverse transcription (RT-PCR) in cancer tissues and adjacent non-cancerous tissues from 42 cases with gastric cancer. The expression levels of MPS-1 in 6 gastric cancer cell lines (AGS, MKN-45, SGC 7901, KATO III, N-87 and SNU-1) were also determined by RT-PCR and Western blot.

RESULTSThe MPS-1 mRNA was expressed in all tissues and cell lines. The mRNA expression level of MPS-1 in cancer tissues were 1.37+/- 0.87, significantly higher than 0.99+/- 0.67 in adjacent normal gastric mucous tissues (P< 0.01). The expression of MPS-1 was correlated with TNM stage (P< 0.05), but not with age, gender, tumor size and differentiation. The expression level of MPS-1 mRNA in the primary lesions was hig her in the patients with TNM stages III, IV than those with TNM stages I, II. Meanwhile, RT-PCR and Western blot showed the same results that MPS-1 expression was higher in the six gastric cancer cell lines as compared with that in the normal gastric cell line GES-1.

CONCLUSIONThe high expression of MPS-1 in gastric cancer indicates that MPS-1 might play an important role in gastric carcinogenesis,which may provide a new target in immunotherapy for gastric cancer.