Expression of astrocyte elevated gene‑1 closely correlates with the angiogenesis of gastric cancer

Li,Shuhua; Guo,Xuefeng; Ma,Xudong; Tang,Cuilan; Ke,Zunfu; Huang,Wenhua

doi:10.3892/ol.2014.1950

Expression of astrocyte elevated gene‑1 closely correlates with the angiogenesis of gastric cancer

Authors:
- Shuhua Li
- Xuefeng Guo
- Xudong Ma
- Cuilan Tang
- Zunfu Ke
- Wenhua Huang
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Affiliations: Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat‑Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, P.R. China, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat‑Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510655, P.R. China, Zhangzhou Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Zhangzhou, Fujian 363000, P.R. China, Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat‑Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, P.R. China, Department of Anatomy, School of Basic Medical Science, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510515, P.R. China
Published online on: March 7, 2014 https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2014.1950
Pages: 1447-1454

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Abstract

Previous studies have demonstrated that astrocyte elevated gene‑1 (AEG‑1) is overexpressed in several cancer types and that its upregulation may promote cell proliferation, cell transformation and tumor progression. The present study investigated the expression and prognostic value of AEG‑1 in primary gastric cancer (GC) as well as its role in angiogenesis. The results obtained from real‑time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and western blotting revealed the upregulation of AEG‑1 mRNA (P=0.007) and protein expression (P<0.001) in the majority of cancerous tissues compared with matched adjacent non‑cancerous gastric tissues. To further investigate the clinicopathological and prognostic roles of AEG‑1, immunohistochemical analysis of 216 GC tissue blocks was performed. The results showed that high AEG‑1 expression closely correlated with differentiation degree (P<0.001 ), T stage (P<0.001), N stage (P=0.003) and M stage (P=0.013). Consistent with the abovementioned results, AEG‑1 upregulation was also found to significantly correlate with poor survival in GC patients (P<0.001). Furthermore, carcinomas with elevated AEG‑1 expression demonstrated high vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression and microvessel density, which was labeled by cluster of differentiation 34. In addition, an AEG‑1 siRNA assay in MGC‑803 cells showed that the AEG‑1 gene may promote VEGF and hypoxia‑inducible factor‑1α protein and mRNA expression. The results of the current study indicated that AEG‑1 may serve as a valuable prognostic marker for GC and may be involved in regulating tumor angiogenesis.

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