Esophageal Cancer
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2003. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Sep 15, 2003; 9(9): 1900-1903
Published online Sep 15, 2003. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v9.i9.1900
Down-regulation of γ-synuclein in human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma
Cui-Qi Zhou, Shuang Liu, Li-Yan Xue, Yi-Hua Wang, Hong-Xia Zhu, Ning Lu, Ning-Zhi Xu
Cui-Qi Zhou, Shuang Liu, Yi-Hua Wang, Hong-Xia Zhu, Ning-Zhi Xu, Laboratory of Cell and Molecular Biology, Cancer Institute and Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100021, China
Li-Yan Xue, Ning Lu, Department of Pathology, Cancer Institute and Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100021, China
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 39925020, and from State Key Basic Research Program, No. G1998051204
Correspondence to: Dr. Ning Zhi Xu, Laboratory of Cell and Molecular Biology, Cancer Institute and Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100021, China. xningzhi@public.bta.net.cn
Telephone: +86-10-67738220 Fax: +86-10-67767548
Received: March 20, 2003
Revised: March 27, 2003
Accepted: April 11, 2003
Published online: September 15, 2003
Abstract

AIM: To investigate gene expression pattern of human γ-synuclein gene in human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) by using semi-quantitive reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and to study the role of γ-synuclein in the development of human ESCC.

METHODS: Semi-quantitive RT-PCR of 27 pairs of specimens of human ESCC tissues and corresponding normal tissues was used to investigate the expression pattern of γ-synuclein in ESCC. 9706/γ-syn cells in which γ-synuclein was overexpressed were obtained through cloning γ-synuclein gene by PCR and transfecting it into ESCC 9706 cells, then selecting with G-418 for 14 days. The biological effects of γ-synuclein were measured and compared between 9706/γ-syn and 9706/vec cells by cell growth curve and soft agar assay.

RESULTS: RT-PCR showed that γ-synuclein gene was expressed in all the 27 cases of normal epithelial tissues, while downregulation of γ-synuclein was observed in 16 out of the 27 cases (59.3%) of ESCC. There were also 6 cases of ESCC tissues with a high expression level of γ-synuclein mRNA. In functional analysis we found that over-expression of γ-synuclein in ESCC 9706 cells could inhibit the growth rate and transformation ability of ESCC 9706 cells.

CONCLUSION: The low expression level of γ-synuclein in human ESCC and the biological effects of γ-synuclein over-expression on ESCC 9706 cells suggest that γ-synuclein may play a role as a negative regulator in the development of human ESCC.

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