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Keywords
- cancer biomarker (1)
- molecular pathology (1)
- neoexpression (1)
- tumor diagnosis (1)
- zona pellucida protein 2 ZP2 (1)
Our study shows ZP2 to be a new biomarker for diagnosis, best used in combination with other low abundant genes in colon cancer. Furthermore, ZP2 promotes cell proliferation via the ERK1/2-cyclinD1-signaling pathway. We demonstrate that ZP2 mRNA is expressed in a low-abundant manner with high specificity in subsets of cancer cell lines representing different cancer subtypes and also in a significant proportion of primary colon cancers. The potential benefit of ZP2 as a biomarker is discussed. In the second part of our study, the function of ZP2 in cancerogenesis has been analyzed. Since ZP2 shows an enhanced transcript level in colon cancer cells, siRNA experiments have been performed to verify the potential role of ZP2 in cell proliferation. Based on these data, ZP2 might serve as a new target molecule for cancer diagnosis and treatment in respective cancer types such as colon cancer.
In thyroid carcinoma cells, the soluble βgalactosidespecific lectin, galectin3, is extra and intracellularly expressed and plays a significant role in thyroid cancer diagnosis. The functional relevance of this molecule, particularly in its extracellular environment however, warrants further elucidation. To gain insight into this topic, the present study characterized principal functional properties of galectin3 in 3 commonly used thyroid carcinoma cell lines (BCPAP, Cal62 and FTC133) that express the molecule intra and extracellulary. Cellintrinsic galectin3 harbors a functional carbohydrate recognition domain as determined by affinity purification. Moreover, cell surface expressed galectin3 can be partially removed by treatment with lactose or asialofetuin, but not with sucrose. Thyroid carcinoma cells adhere to substratebound galectin3 in a βgalactosidespecific manner, whereby only cell adhesion, but not cell migration is promoted. Thus, thyroid tumor cells harbor functional active galectin3 that, inter alia, specifically interacts with cell surfaceexpressed molecular ligands in a βgalactosidedependent manner, whereby the molecule can at least interfere with cell adhesion. The modulation of galectin3 expression level or its ligands in such tumor cells could be of therapeutic interest and needs further experimental clarification.
