title: Clinical utility of quantitative RT-PCR targeted to alpha1,4-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase mRNA for detection of pancreatic cancer.
abstract: alpha1,4-N-Acetylglucosaminyltransferase (alpha4GnT) is a glycosyltransferase responsible for the biosynthesis of alpha1,4-GlcNAc-capped O-glycans, and is frequently expressed in pancreatic cancer cells but not peripheral blood cells. In the present study, we tested the clinical utility of alpha4GnT mRNA expressed in the mononuclear cell fraction of peripheral blood as a biomarker of pancreatic cancer. Total RNA isolated from the peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 55 pancreatic cancer patients, 10 chronic pancreatitis patients, and 70 cancer-free volunteers was analyzed quantitatively by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction with primers specific for alpha4GnT, and the expression level of alpha4GnT mRNA relative to that of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) was measured. When the ratio of alpha4GnT to GAPDH transcripts exceeded a defined cut-off value, patients were considered to have pancreatic cancer. By these standards, 76.4% of the pancreatic cancer patients were detected by this assay. A strong correlation was obtained between positivity in this assay and the expression of alpha4GnT protein detected immunohistochemically in pancreatic cancer tissues resected subsequently, suggesting that alpha4GnT mRNA detected in the peripheral blood is derived from circulating pancreatic cancer cells. Although increased levels of alpha4GnT mRNA was detected in 40.0% of chronic pancreatitis patients and 17.1% of cancer-free volunteers, the expression levels were significantly lower than those seen in pancreatic cancer patients. These results suggest that quantitative analysis of alpha4GnT mRNA expressed in the mononuclear cell fraction of peripheral blood will contribute to the detection of pancreatic cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Shinshu University School of Medicine, , Asahi 3-1-1, Matsumoto 390-8621, Japan.
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ishizone
authors.forename: Kazuyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamauchi
authors.forename: Shigeyuki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kawa
authors.forename: Takefumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Fumiaki
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Shimizu
authors.forename: Oi
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Harada
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sugiyama
authors.forename: Shinichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Miyagawa
authors.forename: Minoru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fukuda
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nakayama
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005987:Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenases / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017351:N-Acetylglucosaminyltransferases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010179:Pancreas / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D050500:Pancreatitis, Chronic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism*; D012334:RNA, Neoplasm / Q000378:metabolism*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012334:RNA, Neoplasm; D005987:Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenases; D017351:N-Acetylglucosaminyltransferases; C037649:N-acetyllactosaminide beta-1,6-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase