AIM: To evaluate the relationship between coexpression of EGFR and ERK2 on the level of protein and mRNA and activation of ERK2 in lung squamous cell carcinomas (SCC). METHODS: Twenty cases of lung squamous cell carcinomas and their paired normal lung tissues were studied. The expression of mRNA and protein of EGFR and ERK2 was measured by reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) and Western blotting, respectively. The activity of ERK2 was detected by immunoprecipitation and kinase reaction. RESULTS: The results showed that the expression of EGFR mRNA and protein in paired normal lung tissues was hardly detected by RT-PCR and Western blotting, respectively, but in 20 cases of lung SCCs their expression was upregulated significantly. Compared with normal lung tissues, the expression of ERK2 mRNA and protein in lung cancer tissues was also upregulated significantly, the latter increased about 3-5-fold, and the activity of ERK2 in lung SCCs was also markedly activated. CONCLUSIONS: These data highlight that the overexpression of ERK2 and EGFR protein occurs simultaneously in lung SCCs, which mainly results from the increasing level of gene transcription, the increased activity of ERK2 in lung cancer tissues perhaps attributes to the upregulation of coexpression of EGFR and ERK2. [

AIM: To investigate the frequency and pattern of deletion of p53 gene in primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and its clinical significance. METHODS: The interphase dual fluorescence in situ hybridization(FISH) technique was applied to detect loss of p53 gene in HCCs. RESULTS: The deletion of p53 gene was found in 68.0% of HCCs whereas no loss of p53 gene was detected in 40 mated normal liver specimens. Loss of p53 gene was closely related to tumor size and serum ?-fetoprotein(AFP) level in HCC patients ( P 0.05). The 2-year survival rate of postoperative HCC patients was significantly lower in the HCC cases with p53 gene deletion (25.6%) than those without p53 gene loss (69.6%) ( ? 2=11.463, P

OBJECTIVETo investigate gene expression profile in nasopharyngeaL carcinoma (NPC) cell lines with different metastatic potentialities, in order to identify new candidate genes related to the development, progress and metastasis of NPC.

METHODSThe mRNA expressions of high metastatic NPC cell line 5-8F, tumorigenic but nonmetastatic NPC cell line 6-10B and non-tumorigenic NPC cell line 13-9B (3 sublines of SUNE-1) were investigated by cDNA microarray containing 14 000 cDNA clones. The alterations in gene expression levels were confirmed by reverse-transcription PCR.

RESULTSThere were 82 differentially expressed genes comparing 5-8F and 13-9B; 38 differentially expressed genes comparing 6-10B and 13-9B; 54 comparing 5-8F and 6-10B. There were 12 common differentially expressed genes comparing 6-10B, 5-8F and 13-9B; 14 common differentially expressed genes comparing 5-8F and 13-9B, 6-10B. The expressions of the above genes were involved in metabolism, transcription, differentiation, apoptosis and signal transduction.

CONCLUSIONThe gene expression profile in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell lines is an important index in the search of new candidate genes related to NPC.

Cell Line ; DNA, Complementary ; analysis ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Humans ; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms ; genetics ; pathology ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; genetics ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; Tumor Cells, Cultured