[Expression of Versican and its clinical significance in gastric carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression of Versican in gastric carcinoma and its relationship with tumor angiogenesis. METHODS: Protein expression of Versican, vascular endothelial growth factor and CD34 was evaluated by immunohistochemistry (EliVision method) in 80 cases of gastric carcinoma and 30 samples of normal gastric tissue. RESULTS: There were statistically significant differences in the expression of Versican, vascular endothelial growth factor and CD34 between gastric carcinoma and normal gastric tissue (P < 0.05). The expression of Versican was seen mainly in fibroblasts of the tumor and was correlated with tumor differentiation, clinical stage and lymph node metastasis (P < 0.05), whereas vascular endothelial growth factor was primarily seen in the cytoplasm of the tumor cells and correlated with tumor differentiation, clinical stage, Lauren classification and lymph node metastasis (P < 0.05). MVD was correlated with tumor differentiation, clinical stage, Lauren classification, depth of tumor invasion and lymph node metastasis (P < 0.05). In addition, positive correlation of Versican and VEGF protein expression was found in tumor cells (r = 0.467, P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The expression of both Versican and vascular endothelial growth factor is closely associated with tumor angiogenesis in gastric carcinoma.

Effects of cancer-associated fibroblasts on the migration and invasion abilities of SGC-7901 gastric cancer cells.

The aim of the current study was to investigate the correlation of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) with the migration and invasion abilities of gastric cancer cells. Gastric CAFs were grown in primary cultures. The in vitro model of interaction of SGC7901 gastric cancer cells with gastric CAFs was established by the use of Transwell co-culture cells to analyze the influence of CAFs on the migration and invasion abilities of SGC7901 cells. The results revealed that i) human gastric CAFs highly expressed vimentin, fibroblast-activated protein and smooth muscle actin in the in vitro passage culture process; ii) the migration and invasion ability of SGC-7901 cells in the CAF-conditioned medium group (98.67±13.49, 34.40±4.63) were significantly higher compared to those of the DMEM group without serum (78.47±10.59, 26.93±3.99; P<0.01). The interactions of CAFs and the extracellular matrix with SGC-7901 cells may significantly increase the migration and invasion abilities of SGC-7901 cells.

The role of SPARC protein expression in the progress of gastric cancer.

We aimed to investigate the expression of SPARC (secreted protein, acidic and rich in cysteine) in gastric cancer and its relationship with tumor angiogenesis and cancer cells proliferation. Protein expression of SPARC, VEGF, CD34 and Ki-67 in 80 cases of gastric cancer and 30 cases of normal gastric tissue was evaluated by immunohistochemistry. CD34 staining was used as an indicator of microvessel density (MVD). Ki-67 labeling Index (LI) indicated cancer cells proliferation. Statistical analysis was used to investigate its relationship with clinical characteristics, tumor angiogenesis and cancer cells proliferation. SPARC expression was mainly in the stromal cells surrounding the gastric cancer cells, and was statistically significant differences between gastric cancer and normal gastric tissue (P < 0.05). Both the expression of SPARC and VEGF were related to differentiation degree, clinical stage, Lauren classification and lymph node metastasis (P < 0.05). Expression of SPARC was significantly negatively correlated with the expression of VEGF and MVD in gastric cancer tissues. Expression of SPARC was also negatively correlated with Ki-67-LI. Our findings suggest that both the expression of SPARC and VEGF are closed to tumor angiogenesis in gastric cancer, SPARC inhibited tumor angiogenesis but VEGF promoted tumor angiogenesis. SPARC also inhibited cells proliferation of gastric cancer.