TITLE:
Down-Regulation of GKN1 in Gastric Cancer Is Not Associated with the RUNX3 Expression
AUTHORS:
Chiara Stella Di Stadio, Filomena Altieri, Antonella Federico, Giuseppina Miselli, Antonello Niglio, Maurizio De Palma, Emilia Rippa, Paolo Arcari
KEYWORDS:
Gastrokine 1, Gastric Cancer, Epigenetics, RUNX3, Tumor Suppressor
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Biosciences and Medicines,
Vol.5 No.11,
November
28,
2017
ABSTRACT: Gastrokine
1 (GKN1) is a gastric mucosal protein highly expressed and secreted in normal
individuals but during Helicobacter
pylori infection or in gastric carcinogenesis it is strongly down-regulated
or totally absent. In gastric cancer, the GKN1 gene is silenced through an epigenetic mechanism most likely mediated by a
transcription factor that promotes on GKN1 promoter the activity of the enzymes SUV39H1
and HDACs. Because RUNX3 is a potential candidate in the regulation of
molecular carcinogenesis process of stomach cancers, we tried to assess if RUNX3 could be involved in GKN1
down-regulation in GC. 17 paired of non-tumoral and tumoral surgical specimens
from patients with gastric cancer were analyzed for GKN1 and RUNX3 by Western
blotting and chromatin immunoprecipitation (Chip) assays. The overall results
indicated that RUNX3 expression was not associated with the down-regulation of
GKN1. The expression levels of RUNX3 in non-tumoral and tumoral samples suggest
that RUNX3 does not act as a tumor suppressor but that it might play a complex
oncogenic role in gastric cancer cells.