[Corrigendum] High expression of RELM-α correlates with poor prognosis and promotes angiogenesis in gastric cancer.

Following the publication of the above article, the authors have drawn to our attention that, in Fig. 6 on p. 83, the 'Ad5/F­35 vector' and 'Control' experiment data panels for the MKN45 cell line were inadvertently derived from the same original source. The Ad5/F35­vector and Control groups were both negative controls; Ad5/F35­vector was the empty vector condition, whereas 'Control' represented the 'no vector' experiment. A representative image belonging to the Control MKN45 experiment was inadvertently used to show the 'Ad5­F35­vector' experiment. An examination of the original data files confirmed that the data shown in the histogram for Fig. 6 were correct; therefore, this error in terms of figure placement did not influence the statistical analysis shown for the invasive ability of the cells. A corrected version of Fig. 6, containing correct representative data for the 'Ad5­F35­vector' experiment, is shown opposite. This error did not affect the results or the conclusions reported in this study. The authors sincerely apologize for this mistake, and regret any inconvenience this mistake has caused. [the original article was published in Oncology Reports 34: 77­86, 2015; DOI: 10.3892/or.2015.3943].

High expression of RELM-α correlates with poor prognosis and promotes angiogenesis in gastric cancer.

Accumulating evidence indicates that resistin-like molecule-α (RELM-α) is involved in angiogenesis, while the clinical significance and the exact role of RELM-α in gastric cancer remain obscure. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the clinical significance of RELM-α in gastric cancer, and to investigate its effective mechanisms in order to identify a potential therapeutic target. The expression levels of RELM-α in 92 gastric cancer and adjacent normal tissues were investigated and the relationship between RELM-α expression and the clinicopathological characteristics was explored. To investigate the potential role of RELM-α in gastric cancer cell biological behavior, the cell proliferation, migration and invasion assays were conducted using two gastric cancer cell lines (SGC7901 and MKN45). We also assessed whether RELM-α gene silencing modulates angiogenesis using small interference RNA in cancer cell lines, and investigated its effect on nuclear factor (NF)-κB activation and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and MMP-9 expression. Contrasting sharply with the strong RELM-α-positive tumors, adjacent normal tissues and cell lines exhibited negative or weakly positive expression (P<0.01). High expression level of RELM-α was associated with advanced stage and tumor size (P<0.01). The silencing of RELM-α expression by Ad5/F35-siRNA treatment significantly inhibited cell migratory and invasive ability in SGC7901 and MKN45 gastric cancer cells compared with the control and Ad5/F35 vector-transfected cell lines (P<0.01). However, the silencing of RELM-α expression also significantly blocked NF-κB activation and attenuated VEGF and MMP-9 expression. The data demonstrated that RELM-α is a promising novel biomarker of angiogenesis in patients with gastric cancer. The study identified that the silencing of RELM-α expression may regulate the proliferation, invasion and migration of gastric cancer cells by targeting VEGF/MMP-9, and the mechanism involved tissue angiogenesis via the NF-κB signaling pathway.

Protein inhibitor of activated STAT-1 is downregulated in gastric cancer tissue and involved in cell metastasis.

Protein inhibitor of activated STAT-1 (PIAS1) is a novel modulator of the JAK/STAT signaling pathway that negatively regulates the inflammatory response. It has been also reported to be downregulated in a variety of human cancer cell lines. However, the role of PIAS1 in gastric cancer remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the prognostic value of PIAS1 expression and its regulated mechanisms in gastric cancer cell metastasis. Therefore, the expression of PIASI was explored in gastric cancer tissues and adjacent tissues of gastric cancer with 31 cases of patients, and the prognostic value was analyzed. In addition, the growth and invasion in SGC7901 cells were investigated in the restoration of PIAS1 expression with Ad5/F35-PIAS1 or Ad5/F35-vector or PBS treatment, and the activity of P38MAPK, P-P38MAPK, JNK/SAPK, P-JNK/SAPK, ERK and P-ERK, were detected by western blotting. The tumor migratory factors MMP-9, MMP-2 and ICAM-1 were analyzed by western blotting. The results demonstrated that 22 of 31 (70.9%) gastric cancer specimens showed low levels of PIAS1 expression from immunohistochemistry staining using tissue microarrays. Statistical analysis suggested that the downregulation of PIAS1 was significantly correlated with tumor staging. Furthermore, we found that the restoration of PIAS1 expression mediated by Ad5/F35 virus suppressed cell proliferation and invasion accompanied by the inhibition of P38MAPK and ERK protein expression and activity, but not JNK/SAPK protein. Notably, PIAS1 restoration with the transfection of Ad5/F35-PIAS1 robustly decreased the expression of tumor migratory factors including MMP-9, MMP-2 and ICAM-1 compared to Ad5/F35-vector. These data suggest that PIAS1 may function as a tumor suppressor to regulate gastric cancer cell metastasis by targeting the MAPK signaling pathway.