title: Association between phosphorylated AMP-activated protein kinase and MAPK3/1 expression and prognosis for patients with gastric cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Phosphorylated AMP-activated protein kinase (pAMPK) plays a central role in cellular metabolic sensing and energy balance homeostasis, and interacts with various pathways [e.g., TP53, mTOR, NUAK2 (sucrose nonfermenting-like kinase), MAPK3/1 (ERK) and PDK]. Therefore, the present study analyzed the expression of pAMPK, NUAK2, MAPK3/1 and PDK-1 and their effect on the survival of patients with resected gastric cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 621 patients with gastric adenocarcinoma surgically resected with curative intent were enrolled in the study. Immunohistochemical staining for pAMPK, NUAK2, MAPK3/1 and PDK-1 was performed using tissue microarrays of surgical specimens of gastric cancer tissue.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Positive pAMPK, NUAK2, MAPK3/1 and PDK-1 expression was observed in 379 (61.0%), 257 (41.4%), 327 (52.7%) and 67 (10.8%) cases, respectively. Multivariate survival analysis showed a significantly better survival for the patients with positive pAMPK or MAPK3/1 expression than for the patients with a negative expression [pAMPK: disease-free survival (DFS), hazard ratio (HR) = 0.750, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.568-0.970, p = 0.030; MAPK3/1: DFS, HR = 0.692, 95% CI = 0.720-0.974, p = 0.021), while NUAK2 or PDK-1 expression had no effect on survival.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  pAMPK or MAPK3/1 expression was found to be an independent prognostic marker for patients with resected gastric cancer.
authors.affiliation: Center for Oncology/Hematology, Kyungpook National University Medical Center, Kyungpook National University School of Medicine, Daegu, Korea. jkk21c@knu.ac.kr
authors.forename: Jong Gwang
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Soo Jung
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Yee Soo
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Chae
authors.forename: Byung Woog
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: You Jin
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Sung Yong
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Min Chan
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Ki Han
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Su-Jin
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D055372:AMP-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000097:blood / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000401:mortality; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen / Q000097:blood; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019950:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D048052:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3 / Q000378:metabolism*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011499:Protein Processing, Post-Translational; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D000081382:Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Acetyl-Transferring Kinase; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000401:mortality; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen; D000081382:Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Acetyl-Transferring Kinase; C486061:NUAK2 protein, human; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D019950:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1; D048052:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3; D055372:AMP-Activated Protein Kinases