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Expressions of GRP78 and Bax associate with differentiation, metastasis, and apoptosis in non-small cell lung cancer

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to detect the expressions of GRP78 and Bax in human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tissues, to analyze their correlations with carcinogenesis and the development of NSCLC, and to investigate the relationship of GRP78 expression to metastasis and apoptosis in the NSCLC cell line HCC827. The positive expression rates of GRP78 and Bax in NSCLC lung tissues were 59.7% and 34.7% by RT-PCR, respectively. The mRNA and protein expression levels of GRP78 in NSCLC tissues were significantly higher than that in the relatively normal surrounding lung tissues (p < 0.05); the lesser the degree of tumor differentiation was, the higher the mRNA and protein expression levels of GRP78 were (p < 0.05). The mRNA and protein expression levels of GRP78 from patients in advanced pathological stages (III–IV) were significantly higher than the corresponding levels in patients in early pathological stages (I–II) (p < 0.05); the mRNA and protein expression levels of GRP78 in patients with positive lymph node metastasis were significantly higher than those in patients with negative lymph node metastasis (p < 0.05). The mRNA and protein expression levels of Bax in the above cases showed the opposite trend of the mRNA and protein expression levels of GRP78. However, the mRNA and protein expression levels of both GRP78 and Bax were independent of the patient’s sex, the patient’s age, the tumor size and the histological type (adenocarcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma) of NSCLC (p > 0.05). The mRNA expression level of GRP78 and the mRNA expression level of Bax in human NSCLC tissues were negatively correlated (r = −0.353, p = 0.002). After transfection of GRP78 siRNA in HCC827 cells, the GRP78 protein expression level was significantly decreased (p < 0.01), while the Bax protein expression level was significantly increased (p < 0.01); the number of cells that passed through the Transwell chamber was significantly less in the non-transfected control group compared to the transfected control group (p < 0.01). The number of apoptotic cells was significantly greater in the non-transfected control group compared to the transfected control group (p < 0.01). The expression levels of GRP78 and Bax were related to the carcinogenesis, development and metastasis of NSCLC. GRP78 expression with siRNA interference in the human NSCLC cell line HCC827 can reduce metastasis and promote apoptosis in HCC827 cells.

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The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Oncology, Wuxi 2nd People’s Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China

    Qing Sun, Qi Wang & Wei Xu

  2. Department of Thoracic Surgery, Wuxi 2nd People’s Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China

    Jun Hua

  3. Department of Interventional Radiology, Shanghai 10th People’s Hospital, Tongji University, No. 301, Yanchang Rd, Shanghai, 200072, China

    Jiaxing Zhang & Maoquan Li

  4. Department of Regenerative Medicine, Tongji University School of Medicine, No. 1239, Siping Rd, Shanghai, 200092, China

    Jun Zhang

  5. School of Life Science and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai, China

    Jiuhong Kang

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  1. Qing Sun
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  2. Jun Hua
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  3. Qi Wang
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  4. Wei Xu
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  5. Jiaxing Zhang
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  8. Maoquan Li
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Correspondence to Jun Zhang or Maoquan Li.

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Sun, Q., Hua, J., Wang, Q. et al. Expressions of GRP78 and Bax associate with differentiation, metastasis, and apoptosis in non-small cell lung cancer. Mol Biol Rep 39, 6753–6761 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-012-1500-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-012-1500-8

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