mRNA Expression Analysis of E-Cadherin, VEGF, and MMPs in Gastric Cancer: a Pilot Study

Abstract

Gastric cancer (GC) is a serious fatal cancer on a global scale because of its presentation at advanced stage. The expressions of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), E-cadherin, and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in other cancers have been reported. However, its expression and underlying mechanisms are little known in gastric cancer in Indian context. In this study, we detected mRNA expression of VEGF, E-cadherin, and MMPs (MMP-1, MMP-2, and MMP-9) in 73 gastric cancer tissues and 27 normal controls by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Receiver operator characteristics analysis was done for determining the diagnostic utility of VEGF, MMPs and E-cadherin with respect to the sensitivity and specificity. The association of VEGF, MMPs, and E-cadherin expression with the clinicopathological characteristics and the prognosis was subsequently analyzed. The mRNA expression results showed that E-cadherin was significantly downregulated in 47.9% of GC in comparison to control. There was no change in VEGF expression observed in 90.4% GC cases. MMP-1, MMP-2, and MMP-9 were overexpressed in 13.7%, 28.8%, and 11% of GC, respectively, with significant change in MMP-2 (p ≤ 0.0001) and MMP-9 (p = 0.027) in comparison to control. Our results strengthen the necessity of more studies to elucidate the prophetic role of these genes in the development of gastric cancer.

Keywords: Diagnostic utility; E-cadherin; Gastric cancer; MMPs; VEGF.

Fig. 1

Expression of VEGF, E-cadherin, MMP-1, MMP-2, and MMP-9 mRNA level in gastric carcinoma as compared to normal gastric biopsy. a Gel pictures showing expression pattern of VEGF, E-cadherin, MMP-1, MMP-2, and MMP-9 mRNA level in gastric tumor biopsy in comparison to gastric mucosa. The expression of beta-actin is shown as an internal control. b Normalized expression of E-cadherin at mRNA level. c Normalized expression of MMP-1 at mRNA level. d Normalized expression of MMP-2 at mRNA level. e Normalized expression of MMP-9 at mRNA level. f Normalized expression of VEGF at mRNA level

Fig. 2

Receiver operator characteristics (ROC) curve of mRNA in terms of sensitivity and specificity (a). ROC curve of E-cadherin mRNA in terms of sensitivity and specificity. b ROC curve of MMP-1 mRNA in terms of sensitivity and specificity. c ROC curve of MMP-2 mRNA in terms of sensitivity and specificity. d ROC curve of MMP-9 mRNA in terms of sensitivity and specificity. e ROC curve of VEGF mRNA in terms of sensitivity and specificity