Brief Reports
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2004. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Dec 1, 2004; 10(23): 3518-3521
Published online Dec 1, 2004. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v10.i23.3518
NDRG2 expression and mutation in human liver and pancreatic cancers
Xiao-Lan Hu, Xin-Ping Liu, Shu-Xin Lin, Yan-Chun Deng, Na Liu, Xia Li, Li-Bo Yao
Xiao-Lan Hu, Xin-Ping Liu, Yan-Chun Deng, Na Liu, Xia Li, Li-Bo Yao, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an 710032, Shaanxi Province, China
Shu-Xin Lin, Department of Pathophysiology, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an 710032, Shaanxi Province, China
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 30370315, No. 30171044 and Medical and pharmaceutical Research Fund of PLA, No. 01MA185
Correspondence to: Li-Bo Yao, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Fourth Military Medical University, 17 Changle West Road, Xi’an 710032, Shaanxi Province, China. bioyao@fmmu.edu.cn
Telephone: +86-29-83374513 Fax: +86-29-83374513
Received: March 18, 2004
Revised: March 22, 2004
Accepted: April 5, 2004
Published online: December 1, 2004
Abstract

AIM: To investigate the expression of NDRG2 and mutation of the entire coding region of NDRG2 in human liver and pancreatic cancers, and to further discuss the possible causes of NDRG2 distinct expression patterns.

METHODS: Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to analyze the expression of NDRG2 mRNA in 37 fresh cancer specimens (including 8 cases of pancreatic cancer and 29 cases of liver cancer) and adjacent normal tissues collected from clinical operation. In addition, mutation analysis of the whole coding region of NDRG2 in these cancers was examined by polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformational polymorphism (PCR-SSCP).

RESULTS: Compared with adjacent normal tissues, the expression levels of NDRG2 mRNA in corresponding cancer tissues reduced significantly (pancreatic cancer: 0.680 ± 0.112 vs 2.089 ± 0.214, P < 0.01) (liver cancer: 0.894 ± 0.098 vs 1.345 ± 0.177, P < 0.05). Using PCR-SSCP, the mutation of the whole coding region of NDRG2 was not found in those cancer tissues where the expression of NDRG2 mRNA reduced markedly.

CONCLUSION: NDRG2 gene might express differently between normal tissues and cancer tissues, and might play an important role in the development of pancreatic cancer and liver cancer. Low expression of NDRG2 might be unrelated to the mutation of coding region of NDRG2.

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