Chondrolectin is a novel diagnostic biomarker and a therapeutic target for lung cancer.
OBJECTIVE
This study aims to identify molecules that might be useful as diagnostic/prognostic biomarkers and as targets for the development of new molecular therapies for lung cancer.


METHODS
We screened for genes that were highly transactivated in a large proportion of 120 lung cancers by means of a cDNA microarray representing 27,648 genes and found chondrolectin (CHODL) as a candidate. Tumor tissue microarray was applied to examine the expression of CHODL protein and its clinicopathologic significance in archival non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tissues from 295 patients. A role of CHODL in cancer cell growth and/or survival was examined by siRNA experiments. Cellular invasive effect of CHODL on mammalian cells was examined by Matrigel assays.


RESULTS
Immunohistochemical staining revealed that strong positivity of CHODL protein was associated with shorter survival of patients with NSCLC (P = 0.0006), and multivariate analysis confirmed it to be an independent prognostic factor. Treatment of lung cancer cells with siRNAs against CHODL suppressed growth of the cancer cells. Furthermore, induction of exogenous expression of CHODL conferred growth and invasive activity of mammalian cells.


CONCLUSIONS
CHODL is likely to be a prognostic biomarker in the clinic and targeting CHODL might be a strategy for the development of anticancer drugs.
Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, Human Genome Center, Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Ken
K
Masuda
Atsushi
A
Takano
Hideto
H
Oshita
Hirohiko
H
Akiyama
Eiju
E
Tsuchiya
Nobuoki
N
Kohno
Yusuke
Y
Nakamura
Yataro
Y
Daigo
D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D019556:COS Cells; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D002460:Cell Line; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D037181:Lectins, C-Type / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D011379:Prognosis; D034622:RNA Interference; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D046888:Tissue Array Analysis
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C475168:CHODL protein, human; D037181:Lectins, C-Type; D008565:Membrane Proteins