title: Overexpression of nuclear protein kinase CK2 α catalytic subunit (CK2α) as a poor prognosticator in human colorectal cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common malignancies but the current therapeutic approaches for advanced CRC are less efficient. Thus, novel therapeutic approaches are badly needed. The purpose of this study is to investigate the involvement of nuclear protein kinase CK2 α subunit (CK2α) in tumor progression, and in the prognosis of human CRC.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Expression levels of nuclear CK2α were analyzed in 245 colorectal tissues from patients with CRC by immunohistochemistry, quantitative real-time PCR and Western blot. We correlated the expression levels with clinicopathologic parameters and prognosis in human CRC patients. Overexpression of nuclear CK2α was significantly correlated with depth of invasion, nodal status, American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging, degree of differentiation, and perineural invasion. Patients with high expression levels of nuclear CK2α had a significantly poorer overall survival rate compared with patients with low expression levels of nuclear CK2α. In multi-variate Cox regression analysis, overexpression of nuclear CK2α was proven to be an independent prognostic marker for CRC. In addition, DLD-1 human colon cancer cells were employed as a cellular model to study the role of CK2α on cell growth, and the expression of CK2α in DLD-1 cells was inhibited by using siRNA technology. The data indicated that CK2α-specific siRNA treatment resulted in growth inhibition.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Taken together, overexpression of nuclear CK2α can be a useful marker for predicting the outcome of patients with CRC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Research, Chi-Mei Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Kai-Yuan
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Chein
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tai
authors.forename: Jung-Chin
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: Chien-Feng
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Chia-Lang
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Hsi-Chin
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: You-Cheng
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Hseu
authors.forename: Yi-Feng
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Yih-Huei
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Uen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality; D047390:Casein Kinase II / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D020134:Catalytic Domain / Q000235:genetics; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011379:Prognosis; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D047390:Casein Kinase II