title: Copy-number increase of AURKA in gastric cancers in a Chinese population: a correlation with tumor progression.
abstract: The centrosome-associated kinase aurora A (AURKA) has been shown to be involved in genetic instability and to be over-expressed in several human carcinomas including gastric cancers (GCs). The chromosome locus of AURKA, 20q13, is frequently amplified in GCs, and the functional impact of such regions needs to be extensively investigated in large amount of clinical samples. Case-matched tissues of gastric carcinomas and adjacent normal epithelium (n=141) were included in this study. Quantitative PCR was carried out to examine the copy number and mRNA expression of AURKA in GCs. Our results showed copy-number gains of AUKRA were detected in a relative high percentage of GC samples (30.5%, 43 out of 141). There was a positive correlation between copy-number increase of AURKA and tumor progression. And copy-number gains of AURKA also showed a positive correlation with mRNA over-expression in GCs. However, expression level of AURKA mRNA was also enhanced in the group of GC samples with unaltered copy numbers. These findings indicated that sporadic gastric cancers exhibit different mechanisms of AURKA regulation and that this may impact the efficacy of aurora-targeted therapies.
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Research Institute, Shenzhen-PKU-HKUST Medical Center, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, People's Republic of China. fangzy796@gmail.com
authors.forename: Zhengyu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.forename: Jiana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Manhui
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wan
mesh_terms: D044466:Asian People / Q000235:genetics*; D064096:Aurora Kinase A; D064127:Aurora Kinases; D018450:Disease Progression; D018628:Gene Dosage; D006801:Humans; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000235:genetics*; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: C576917:AURKA protein, human; D064096:Aurora Kinase A; D064127:Aurora Kinases; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases