title: Expression of HERC4 in lung cancer and its correlation with clinicopathological parameters.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Growing evidence suggests that the members of the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) are important for tumorigenesis. HERC4, one component, is a recently identified ubiqutin ligase. However, the expression level and function role of HERC4 in lung cancer remain unknown. Our objective was to investigate any correlation between HERC4 and development of lung cancer and its clinical significance.
  
  
  METHODS
  To determine HERC4 expression in lung cancer, an immunohistochemistry analysis of a tissue microarray containing samples of 10 lung normal tissues, 15 pulmonary neuroendocrine carcinomas, 45 squamous epithelial cancers and 50 adenocarcinomas was conducted. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was applied to obtain a cut-off point of 52.5%, above which the expression of HERC4 was regarded as "positive".
  
  
  RESULTS
  On the basis of ROC curve analysis, positive expression of HERC4 was detected in 0/10 (0.0%) of lung normal tissues, in 4/15 (26.7%) of pulmonary neuroendocrine carcinomas, in 13/45 (28.9%) of squamous epithelial cancers and in 19/50 (38.0%) of adenocarcinomas. It showed that lung tumors expressed more HERC4 protein than adjacent normal tissues (χ2=4.675, p=0.031). Furthermore, HERC4 positive expression had positive correlation with pT status (χ2=44.894, p=0.000), pN status (χ2=43.628, p=0.000), histological grade (χ2=7.083, p=0.029) and clinical stage (χ2=72.484, p=0.000), but not age (χ2=0.910, p=0.340).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our analysis suggested that HERC4 is likely to be a diagnostic biomarker for lung cancer.
authors: Institute of Genetic Engineering, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China E-mail : shirongphd@126.com or weimin78@126.com.
authors: Wen-Li
authors: WL
authors: Zeng
authors: Yao-Wu
authors: YW
authors: Chen
authors: Hui
authors: H
authors: Zhou
authors: Jue-Yu
authors: JY
authors: Zhou
authors: Min
authors: M
authors: Wei
authors: Rong
authors: R
authors: Shi
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D018278:Carcinoma, Neuroendocrine / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008168:Lung / Q000378:metabolism; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D012372:ROC Curve; D046888:Tissue Array Analysis; D044767:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases / Q000378:metabolism*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C502268:HERC4 protein, human; D044767:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases