Gene expression profiles at different stages of human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
OBJECTIVE
To characterize the gene expression profiles in different stages of carcinogenesis of esophageal epithelium.


METHODS
A microarray containing 588 cancer related genes was employed to study the gene expression profile at different stages of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma including basal cell hyperplasia, high-grade dysplasia, carcinoma in situ, early and late cancer. Principle component analysis was performed to search the genes which were important in carcinogenesis.


RESULTS
More than 100 genes were up or down regulated in esophageal epithelial cells during the stages of basal cell hyperplasia, high-grade dysplasia, carcinoma in situ, early and late cancer. Principle component analysis identified a set of genes which may play important roles in the tumor development. Comparison of expression profiles between these stages showed that some genes, such as P160ROCK, JNK2, were activated and may play an important role in early stages of carcinogenesis.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings provided an esophageal cancer-specific and stage-specific expression profiles, showing that complex alterations of gene expression underlie the development of malignant phenotype of esophageal cancer cells.
Zhou
Jin
J
National Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Cancer Institute, Peking Union Medical College and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100021, China.
Zhao
Li-Qun
LQ
Xiong
Mo-Miao
MM
Wang
Xiu-Qin
XQ
Yang
Guan-Rui
GR
Qiu
Zong-Liang
ZL
Wu
Min
M
Liu
Zhi-Hua
ZH
D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D048056:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 9; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011897:Random Allocation; D054460:rho-Associated Kinases
D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D048056:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 9; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D054460:rho-Associated Kinases; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases