Gastric Cancer
Copyright ©2006 Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Dec 14, 2006; 12(46): 7478-7481
Published online Dec 14, 2006. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v12.i46.7478
Phosphorylated vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein is localized on mitotic spindles of the gastric cancer cell line SGC-7901
Yan Tao, Yong-Chang Chen, Ying Wang, Zhi-Jian Zhang, Wen-Rong Xu
Yan Tao, Yong-Chang Chen, Ying Wang, Zhi-Jian Zhang, School of Medicine, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212001, Jiangsu Province, China
Wen-Rong Xu, School of Medical Technology, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212001, Jiangsu Province, China
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 30340036 and 30470891; Startup Grant from Jiangsu University, and Grant of Zhenjiang Key Institute of Clinical Laboratory Medicine (SH2006066)
Correspondence to: Yong-Chang Chen, PhD, School of Medicine, Jiangsu University, No. 2 Dongwu Road, Zhenjiang 212001, Jiangsu Province, China. ycchen54@ujs.edu.cn
Telephone: +86-511-2986558 Fax: +86-511-5038002
Received: August 24, 2006
Revised: November 2, 2006
Accepted: November 9, 2006
Published online: December 14, 2006
Abstract

AIM: To elucidate the localization of vasodilator stimulated phosphoprotein (VASP), a cytoskeletal organizing protein and a substrate of protein kinases A and G in mitotic gastric cancer cells.

METHODS: Immunofluorescence microscopy was used to observe the localization of α-tubulin, VASP and Ser157 phosphorylated VASP (p-VASP) in interphase of mitotic gastric cancer of the cell line SGC-7901.

RESULTS: Immunofluorescence staining showed that p-VASP but not VASP was co-localized with α-tubulin on spindle poles and fibers in prophase, metaphase and anaphase of the mitotic process of the gastric cancer cell line SGC-7901. H89, an inhibitor of protein kinases A and G, had no effect on the localization of p-VASP on the spindles.

CONCLUSION: VASP may play a role in assembling and stabilizing the mitotic spindle of cells, and phosphorylation of the protein is the precondition for it to exert this function.

Keywords: Phosphorylated vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein, Localization, Mitotic spindle, Gastric cancer cell