Published online Aug 15, 2001. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v7.i4.551
Revised: March 22, 2001
Accepted: March 29, 2001
Published online: August 15, 2001
AIM: To investigate SBA2 expression in CRC cell lines and surgical specimens of CRC and autologous healthy mucosa.
METHODS: Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used for relative quantification of SBA2 mRNA levels in 4 human CRC cell lines with different grades of differentiation and 30 clinical samples. Normalization of the results was achieved by simultaneous amplification of β-actin as an internal control.
RESULTS: In the exponential range of amplification, fairly good linearity demonstrated identical amplification efficiency for SBA2 and β-actin (82%). Markedly lower levels of SBA2 mRNA were detectable in tumors, as compared with the coupled normal counterparts (P < 0.01). SBA2 expression was significantly (0.01 < P < 0.05) correlated with the grade of differentiation in CRC, with relatively higher levels in well-differentiated samples and lower in poorly-differentiated cases. Of the 9 cases with lymph nodes affected, 78% (7/9) had reduced SBA2 mRNA expression in contrast to 24% (5/21) in non-metastasis samples (0.01 < P < 0.05).
CONCLUSION: SBA2 gene might be a promising novel biomarker of cell differentiation in colorectal cancer and its biological features need further studies.