[Expression and its clinical significance of AMP-activated protein kinase in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the expression and its possible function of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) in the occurrence of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).


METHODS
The tissue samples were collected from 40 fresh ESCC and 40 normal esophagus, and the expression of AMPK downstream substrates p-ACC and ACC were tested by Western-blot, then the correlations of p-ACC and ACC expression to the clinicopathologic characterisics were analyzed.


RESULTS
The expression of p-ACC in ESCC was lower than that in normal tissues, with significant statistical difference (P < 0.05). The down-regulation ratio of p-ACC in poorly-differentiated ESCC was 81.8% (9/11), which was significantly higher than that in moderately and well-differentiated ESCC (3.5%, 1/29). There was no correlation of p-ACC down-regulation with age, gender, TNM stage and lymph node metastasis (P > 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
The expression of p-ACC was down-regulation in ESCC, and the down-regulation is associated with tumor cell differentiation.
Department of Gastroenterology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.
Song-Yuan
SY
Zhao
Xue-Mei
XM
Zhang
Hong-Sheng
HS
Ma
D055372:AMP-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D000103:Acetyl-CoA Carboxylase / Q000378:metabolism; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000201:enzymology*; D015536:Down-Regulation; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
D055372:AMP-Activated Protein Kinases; D000103:Acetyl-CoA Carboxylase