title: Decreased expression of tumour suppressor Bax-interacting factor-1 (Bif-1), a Bax activator, in gastric carcinomas.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Evasion of apoptosis is one of the hallmarks of cancer. Bax-interacting factor-1 (Bif-1) interacts with both Bax and Bak that are essential for the intrinsic pathway of apoptosis, and enhances apoptosis. The aim of this study was to explore whether alteration of Bif-1 expression might be a characteristic of gastric cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analysed the expression of Bif-1 protein in 60 gastric adenocarcinomas by immunohistochemistry using a tissue microarray approach.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In normal gastric mucosal cells, surface and glandular epithelial cells strongly expressed Bif-1. While Bif-1 expression was detected in 24 cases (40%) of the gastric carcinomas, there was no Bif-1 immunostaining in the remaining 36 cancers. Even in the 24 cases with positive Bif-1 immunostainings, 10 cancers showed decreased intensity of immunostaining compared with the normal mucosal epithelial cells.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The decreased expression of Bif-1 in malignant gastric epithelial cells compared with the normal mucosal cells suggests that loss of Bif-1 expression may play a role in gastric tumorigenesis, possibly by inhibiting the apoptosis mediated by Bif-1.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jong Woo
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Eun Goo
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.forename: Young Hwa
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Soung
authors.forename: Suk Woo
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Nam
authors.forename: Jung Young
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Nam Jin
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.forename: Sug Hyung
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing / Q000378:metabolism*; D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm; C429293:SH3GLB1 protein, human