title: Correlation between expression and differentiation of endocan in colorectal cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the expression frequency of endocan in colorectal cancer and analyze the relationship between endocan expression and clinical parameters and to study the role of endocan in colorectal carcinogenesis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Expression of endocan in 72 tumor tissue samples of colorectal cancer as well as in 27 normal mucous membrane tissue samples was analyzed using in situ hybridization, immunohistochemistry on tissue microarray, Western blot and reverse-transcript polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The expression of endocan was higher in normal colon and rectum tissue samples than in cancerous tissue samples (mRNA = 92.6%, protein = 36%), and was lower in colorectal cancer tissue samples (mRNA = 70.4%, protein = 36.1%). No correlation was found between staining intensity and clinical parameters such as sex, age, tumor size and TNM stage. However, the expression of endocan was positively correlated with the tissue differentiation in colorectal cancer.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The expression of endocan is down-regulated in colorectal cancer and is positively correlated with the tissue differentiation in colorectal cancer, suggesting that the expression of endocan is associated with development and differentiation of colorectal cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Key Laboratory of Gene Resource Utilization for Severe Disease, Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230032, China. wangyuan@ahmu.edu.cn
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zuo
authors.forename: Su-Mei
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Ruo-Lei
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Hua-Qing
authors.initials: HQ
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Shu-Yu
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Gui
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D003106:Colon / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D015536:Down-Regulation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011509:Proteoglycans / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D012007:Rectum / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: C101134:ESM1 protein, human; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D011509:Proteoglycans; D012333:RNA, Messenger