Differential expression of genes in papillary thyroid cancer with lymph node metastasis / 中国癌症杂志

ABSTRACT

Background and purpose:Although cervical lymph node metastases is commonly found, papillary thyroid cancer(PTC) has a fairly good prognosis. The microarray or gene chip technique is an effective method to explore the biological behavior of cancers. This study aims to measure the differential expression of genes between papillary thyroid cancer with lymph node metastasis and normal thyroid tissue with the new technology. Methods:The total mRNA was extracted from the specimens of papillary thyroid cancer with lymph node metastasis and normal thyroid tissues. Both of samples were labeled with fluorescent Cy5 or Cy3, and then hybridized to the gene chip which it includes 14 112 human functional gene fragments. Differentially expressed genes were screened out by scanning and analyzing the fluorescent signals.Results:There are 1 212 differentially expressed gene fragments between the two groups that it account for 8.71% of the total sites. Among them, 22 sites showed remarkable difference with either upregulation or downregulation more than 8 times fold, 2 of 6 downregulation sites represent one same gene sequence NM-001920, which is the mRNA of the protein decorin.Conclusions:Gene chip is an effective method to study the change of gene expression during the progression of a disease. As to PTC, it involves many genes. Decorin may be an important biomarker for the prediction of metastases to the cervical lymph nodes in PTC.