Aberrant expression of PTCH (patched gene) and Smo (smoothened gene) in human pancreatic cancerous tissues and its association with hyperglycemia.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the prevalence of PTCH (patched gene) and Smo (smoothened gene) expression in human pancreatic cancerous tissues and its association with clinical characteristics.


METHODS
A rabbit polyclonal antibody against PTCH was prepared through the immunization of prokaryotic recombinant PTCH1170-1433 protein. The PTCH and Smo expression in 39 resected pancreas specimens from 28 patients with pancreatic cancer, 6 with chronic pancreatitis (as control), and 5 with pancreatic pseudocyst (as control) were detected by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry. The relationships between their expressions and pathological characteristics such as tumor sizes, degree of differentiation, nodal status, distant metastasis, and the blood sugar level were analyzed.


RESULTS
The prevalence of PTCH and Smo expressions in cancerous tissues were 71.4% (20/28) and 53.6% (15/28), respectively, whereas no expression in the nontumor pancreas tissues was found. Both PTCH and Smo expressions correlated with the low levels of tumor tissue differentiation (P < 0.05) and PTCH and Smo expressions in islet cells of cancerous tissues associated with hyperglycemia.


CONCLUSIONS
Because aberrant expressions of PTCH and Smo were common in human pancreatic carcinoma tissues and were associated with the low-level differentiation of tumor tissue and hyperglycemia, this indicated that these molecules played a fundamental role in pancreas tumorigenesis and were regarded as new targets for diagnosis and treatment of human pancreatic cancer.
Shao
Jianguo
J
Department of Gastroenterology, Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China.
Zhang
Ling
L
Gao
Jun
J
Li
Zhaoshen
Z
Chen
Zhirong
Z
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D018273:Carcinoma, Islet Cell / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D021441:Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D006943:Hyperglycemia / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D000072079:Patched Receptors; D000072081:Patched-1 Receptor; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015398:Signal Transduction; D000072086:Smoothened Receptor
C000606236:PTCH1 protein, human; D000072079:Patched Receptors; D000072081:Patched-1 Receptor; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled; C491023:SMO protein, human; D000072086:Smoothened Receptor