title: Increased expression of Lgr5 is associated with chemotherapy resistance in human gastric cancer.
abstract: Leucine-rich repeat-containing G protein-coupled receptor 5 (Lgr5), a marker of adult stem cells and cancer stem cells, plays important roles in tumor progression. Furthermore, Lgr5 also contributes to chemoradiotherapy resistance. However, the function of Lgr5 in the prediction of preoperative chemotherapy efficacy has not been reported. We evaluated the potential of Lgr5 in predicting tumor response and overall survival in advanced gastric cancer treated with preoperative chemotherapy. The association between Lgr5 and chemotherapy resistance was also investigated in gastric cancer cell lines. Hematoxylin and eosin staining and immunohistochemical analysis of Lgr5 expression were performed in 68 cases of gastric cancer treated with preoperative chemotherapy. Lgr5 expression was specifically silenced in the AGS gastric cancer cell lines by RNA interference. Levels of Lgr5 mRNA and protein in cell lines were detected by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction or western blotting. Cell viability was evaluated by an MTT assay. Cell apoptosis was assessed by Annexin V-FITC/propidium iodide dual staining analysis. We found that Lgr5 expression was significantly associated with tumor regression grade after preoperative chemotherapy. The rate of positive Lgr5 expression was significantly higher in patients with poor tumor regression compared with those exhibiting tumor regression (P=0.001). Lgr5-positive patients had a significantly shorter survival time than Lgr5-negative patients (P=0.001). Inhibition of Lgr5 expression with small interfering RNA increased the sensitivity of AGS gastric cancer cells to chemotherapy. Our findings suggest that Lgr5 expression may be implicated in the chemoresistance of gastric cancer cells and is a potential novel biomarker for predicting response to chemotherapy and prognosis in gastric cancer patients, and may also represent a potential new therapeutic target for cancer therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital, Beijing 100853, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Hong-Qing
authors.initials: HQ
authors.lastname: Xi
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital, Beijing 100853, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jian-Xin
authors.initials: JX
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital, Beijing 100853, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Wei-Song
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital, Beijing 100853, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Song
authors.initials: XS
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital, Beijing 100853, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Shi-Bo
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Bian
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital, Beijing 100853, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Ji-Yang
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital, Beijing 100853, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zhou
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital, Beijing 100853, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital, Beijing 100853, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011379:Prognosis; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled / Q000378:metabolism*; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; C116884:LGR5 protein, human; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled