title: Correlation between Mcl-1 and pAKT protein expression in colorectal cancer.
abstract: Mcl-1 inhibits apoptosis in well-differentiated cells by sequestering BAD, BID, and BAX and other apoptotic molecules. pAKT blocks apoptotsis by facilitating the interaction of BAD with BCL-XL. Expression of pAKT and Mcl-1 have been described in colon cancer, however, the relationship between pAKT and Mcl-1 has not. Mcl-1 and pAKT immunohistochemistry was performed using colorectal cancer tissue microarray (TMA). The Holm step-down method was used to adjust for multiple testing. Mcl-1 and pAKT scores, stage, and grade were compared using Spearman's correlation coefficient. Metastasis and no metastasis groups were compared using the Wilcoxon rank sum test. Mcl-1 and pAKT scores were compared for normal colorectal mucosa (NR), adenoma (AD), and colorectal cancer (CRC) cohorts. The mean (SD) pAKT expression in NR (14) was 2.0 (1.4), in AD (8) was 3.0 (1.7), and in CRC (101) was 5.6 (2.4). These differences were statistically significant. For Mcl-1 the mean (SD) expression was 4.1 (1.7) in NR, 3.2 (1.2) in AD, and 3.3 (2.6) in CRC. Mcl-1 and pAKT scores were directly correlated during various stages of colon car-cinogenesis (p = 0.04). Mcl-1 showed direct correlation with tumor grade (p = 0.001) and tumor stage (p = 0.02) and with presence of metastasis (p = 0.008). We report the correlation of Mcl-1 protein expression with higher grade and stage in colorectal cancer. Mcl-1 correlated also with pAKT expression. We also report the up regulation of pAKT during the transition from NR to CRC.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Oncologic Sciences; Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, at the University of South Florida, School of Medicine, Tampa, Florida 33612-3275, USA
authors.forename: Evita B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Henderson-Jackson
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Helm
authors.forename: Masoumeh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ghayouri
authors.forename: Ardeshir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hakam
authors.forename: Aejaz
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nasir
authors.forename: Marino
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Leon
authors.forename: Marilyn
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bui
authors.forename: Timothy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yeatman
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Coppola
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery; D000236:Adenoma / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D064549:Myeloid Cell Leukemia Sequence 1 Protein; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010766:Phosphorylation; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / Q000378:metabolism*; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000378:metabolism*; D046888:Tissue Array Analysis; D015854:Up-Regulation; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D064549:Myeloid Cell Leukemia Sequence 1 Protein; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; C494918:AKT1 protein, human; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt