Expression of NDRG2 is related to tumor progression and survival of gastric cancer patients through Fas-mediated cell death.
Although N-myc downstream regulated gene 2 (NDRG2) has been known to be a tumor suppressor gene, the function of this gene has not been elucidated. In the present study, we investigated the expression and function of NDRG2 in human gastric cancer. Among seven gastric cancer and two non-cancer cell lines, only two gastric cancer cell lines, SNU-16 and SNU-620, expressed NDRG2, which was detected in the cytoplasm. Interestingly, NDRG2 was highly expressed in normal gastric tissues, but gastric cancer patients were divided into NDRG2-positive and -negative groups. The survival rate of NDRG2-negative patients was lower than that of NDRG2-positive patients. We confirmed that the loss of NDRG2 expression was a significant and independent prognostic indicator in gastric carcinomas by multivariate analysis. To investigate the role of NDRG2 in gastric cancer cells, we generated a NDRG2-silenced gastric cancer cell line, which stably expresses NDRG2 siRNA. NDRG2-silenced SNU-620 cells exhibited slightly increased proliferation and cisplatin resistance. In addition, inhibition of NDRG2 decreased Fas expression and Fas-mediated cell death. Taken together, these data suggest that inactivation of NDRG2 may elicit resistance against anticancer drug and Fas-mediated cell death. Furthermore, case studies of gastric cancer patients indicate that NDRG2 expression may be involved in tumor progression and overall survival of the patients.
Choi
Seung-Chul
SC
Stem Cell Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Daejeon 305-608, Korea.
Yoon
Suk Ran
SR
Park
Yuk Pheel
YP
Song
Eun Young
EY
Kim
Jae Wha
JW
Kim
Woo Ho
WH
Yang
Young
Y
Lim
Jong-Seok
JS
Lee
Hee Gu
HG
D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology*; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D015536:Down-Regulation; D053222:Fas Ligand Protein / Q000502:physiology*; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D053222:Fas Ligand Protein; C466228:NDRG2 protein, human; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins