title: Overexpression of PLCE1 in Kazakh esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: implications in cancer metastasis and aggressiveness.
abstract: Three recent large-scale genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in Chinese Han populations have identified an esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) susceptibility locus within phospholipase C epsilon 1 (PLCE1) gene, which encodes a phospholipase involved in intracellular signaling. The expressed PLCE1 in ESCC, however, are inconsistent. This study examined PLCE1 expression by immunohistochemistry (IHC) from 110 ethnic Kazakh ESCC patients and 50 from adjacent normal esophageal tissues (NETs). The expressed PLCE1 was localized in cytoplasm, especially in the peripheral layers of cancer cell nests, which was significantly higher in tumors than in NETs (p < 0.001). Increased expression of PLCE1 was correlated with advanced tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stages (p = 0.015) and lymph node metastasis (p = 0.003) in patients with ESCC. Of the 110 patients, we examined 50 paired ESCC tissues and corresponding NETs by quantitative RT-PCR (polymerase chain reaction) and the mean mRNA level of PLCE1 in ESCC was 1.85-fold higher compared with those in corresponding NETs (p = 0.0012). Meanwhile, 4 of 5 ESCC cell lines also showed elevated expression of PLCE1 mRNA. Furthermore, elevated expression of PLCE1 mRNA in Kazakh ESCC was associated with its immunoreactivity (ρ = 0.297, p = 0.040), lymph node metastasis (p < 0.001), and advanced TNM stages of ESCC (p = 0.013). To our knowledge, this study demonstrates for the first time that PLCE1 overexpression correlates with lymph node metastasis and advanced TNM stages of Kazakh ESCC, implicating a role of PLCE1 in cancer metastasis and aggressiveness in ethnic Kazakh patients with ESCC. Furthermore, the current findings may warrant investigations into whether inhibiting PLCE1 could be a strategy for targeted anticancer therapy particularly for Kazakh ESCC.
authors: Department of Oncology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan; Department of Pathology and Key Laboratory for Xinjiang Endemic and Ethnic Diseases, Shihezi University School of Medicine, Shihezi.
authors: Yun-Zhao
authors: YZ
authors: Chen
authors: Xiao-Bin
authors: XB
authors: Cui
authors: Jian-Ming
authors: JM
authors: Hu
authors: Wen Jie
authors: WJ
authors: Zhang
authors: Shu-Gang
authors: SG
authors: Li
authors: Lan
authors: L
authors: Yang
authors: Xi-Hua
authors: XH
authors: Shen
authors: Chun-Xia
authors: CX
authors: Liu
authors: Qing-Fang
authors: QF
authors: Pan
authors: Shi-Ying
authors: SY
authors: Yu
authors: Xiang-Lin
authors: XL
authors: Yuan
authors: Lei
authors: L
authors: Yang
authors: Wen-Yi
authors: WY
authors: Gu
authors: Jie-Zhong
authors: JZ
authors: Chen
authors: Li-Dong
authors: LD
authors: Wang
authors: Feng
authors: F
authors: Li
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D000077277:Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma; D004947:Esophagus; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study; D006801:Humans; D007623:Kazakhstan / Q000208:ethnology; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D054801:Phosphoinositide Phospholipase C / Q000235:genetics*; D011379:Prognosis
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D054801:Phosphoinositide Phospholipase C; C423320:phospholipase C epsilon
keywords: Kazakh esophageal squamous cell carcinoma; aggressiveness; cancer metastasis; phospholipase C epsilon 1 (PLCE1)