title: Increased midkine gene expression in human gastrointestinal cancers.
abstract: Midkine (MK) is a product of a retinoic acid-responsive gene, and is a novel growth differentiation factor. We examined the expression of the MK gene in specimens of 47 surgically removed human carcinomas of the gastrointestinal organs, namely, gastric, colorectal, hepatocellular, pancreatic, esophageal, ampullary duodenal and bile duct carcinomas. In most cases, the MK mRNA level was higher in cancer specimens than in the corresponding non-cancerous tissues. Furthermore, MK mRNA was more highly expressed in the colon adenocarcinoma lesion than in the adenoma lesions, in the two familial polyposis cases. While MK mRNA was not detected in the normal liver, it became detectable in cirrhotic tissues in 2 of 4 cases, and its expression was increased in the cancerous tissues. Thus, the increase of MK mRNA level is a phenomenon seen in many human gastrointestinal carcinomas. The increased expression of the MK gene in gastric carcinoma was significantly more prominent in well and moderately differentiated adenocarcinomas than in poorly differentiated adenocarcinomas and signet ring cell carcinomas.
authors.affiliation: First Department of Surgery, Kagoshima University, Faculty of Medicine.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Aridome
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tsutsui
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takao
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kadomatsu
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ozawa
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Aikou
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Muramatsu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001650:Bile Duct Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D016207:Cytokines / Q000096:biosynthesis; D004379:Duodenal Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D005770:Gastrointestinal Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000078792:Midkine; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery
chemical_list: D002352:Carrier Proteins; D016207:Cytokines; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D000078792:Midkine