title: Aberrant expression of the autocrine motility factor receptor correlates with poor prognosis and promotes metastasis in gastric carcinoma.
abstract: AMFR, autocrine motility factor receptor, also called gp78, is a cell surface cytokine receptor which has a dual role as an E3 ubiquitin ligase in endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation. AMFR expression is associated with tumor malignancy. We here investigated the clinical significance of AMFR and its role in metastasis and prognosis in gastric cancer. Expression of AMFR, E-cadherin and N-cadherin in cancer tissues and matched adjacent normal tissues from 122 gastric cancer (GC) patients undergoing surgical resection was assessed by immunohistochemistry. Levels of these molecules in 17 cases selected randomly were also analysed by Western blotting. AMFR expression was significantly increased in gastric cancer tissues, and associated with invasion depth and lymph node metastasis. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed AMFR expression correlated with poor overall survival and an increased risk of recurrence in the GC cases. Cox regression analysis suggested AMFR to be an independent predictor for overall and recurrence-free survival. E-cadherin expression was decreased in gastric cancer tissues; conversely, N-cadherin was increased. Expression of AMFR negatively correlated with E-cadherin expression, whereas N-cadherin expression showed a significant positive correlation with AMFR expression. AMFR might be involved in the regulation of epithelial-mesenchymal transition, with aberrant expression correlating with a poor prognosis and promoting invasion and metastasis in GCs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China E-mail : wangziwei571215@sina.com.
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Neng
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Lang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zha
authors.forename: Hong-Chao
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.forename: Xuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Ji-Feng
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Xiang
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Zi-Wei
authors.initials: ZW
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality / Q000556:secondary*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000378:metabolism; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D015820:Cadherins / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005753:Gastric Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D060285:Receptors, Autocrine Motility Factor / Q000378:metabolism*; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D015996:Survival Rate
chemical_list: D015703:Antigens, CD; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C050361:CDH2 protein, human; D015820:Cadherins; C555000:AMFR protein, human; D060285:Receptors, Autocrine Motility Factor