News Release

A new Eph receptor tyrosine kinase overexpressed in gastric cancer was found

Peer-Reviewed Publication

World Journal of Gastroenterology

The potential role of Eph receptor and ephrin ligand family in human cancer is receiving increasing attention. Compared with other Eph receptors, EphA4 is distinguished by its ability to bind to both type A ephrins and most type B ephrins. EphA4 reportedly forms a hetero receptor complex with FGFR1 and that EphA4/FGFR1 complex potentiates FGFR-mediated downstream signal transduction. However, alterations of EphA4 are not well understood in gastric cancer.

A research article to be published on October 7, 2008 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology will adress this question. This study was conducted by a team led by Dr. Hiroyuki Yamamoto of Sapporo Medical University in which they systematically analyzed expression of EphA4, FGFR1, and ephrins in gastric cancer.

Using reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR), real-time RT-PCR, immunohistochemistry, and cell growth assays, the research team analyzed the expression and role of EphA4 in gastric cancer, in relation to clinicopathological characteristics and the expression of FGFR1 and ephrin ligands. EphA4 overexpression at protein level was found and significantly associated with depth of invasion, recurrence, poor prognosis, and FGFR1 overexpression. The mRNAs for ephrin ligands were coexpressed in various combinations in gastric cancer cell lines and cancer tissues. Downregulation of EphA4 expression by siRNA resulted in a significant decrease in cancer cell growth in vitro.

In the view of the team, EphA4 is the first Eph/ephrin family member of which prognostic significance was shown in gastric cancer. EphA4 reportedly forms a hetero receptor complex with FGFR1 and that the EphA4/FGFR1 complex potentiates FGFR-mediated downstream signal transduction. FGFR1 expression was correlated with EphA4 expression. Therefore, EphA4 may play a role in gastric cancer, at least in part, through the interaction with FGFR signaling.

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Reference: Oki M, Yamamoto H, Taniguchi H, Adachi Y, Imai K, Shinomura Y. Overexpression of the receptor tyrosine kinase EphA4 in human gastric cancers. World J Gastroenterol 2008;14(37): 5650-5656
http://www.wjgnet.com/1007-9327/14/5650.asp

Correspondence to: Hiroyuki Yamamoto, MD, FJSIM, PhD, First Department of Internal Medicine, Sapporo Medical University, S.-1, W.-16, Chuo-ku, Sapporo 060-8543, Japan. h-yama@sapmed.ac.jp Telephone: +81-11-611-2111 Fax: +81-11-611-2282

About World Journal of Gastroenterology

World Journal of Gastroenterology (WJG), a leading international journal in gastroenterology and hepatology, has established a reputation for publishing first class research on esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, liver cancer, viral hepatitis, colorectal cancer, and H pylori infection and provides a forum for both clinicians and scientists. WJG has been indexed and abstracted in Current Contents/Clinical Medicine, Science Citation Index Expanded (also known as SciSearch) and Journal Citation Reports/Science Edition, Index Medicus, MEDLINE and PubMed, Chemical Abstracts, EMBASE/Excerpta Medica, Abstracts Journals, Nature Clinical Practice Gastroenterology and Hepatology, CAB Abstracts and Global Health. ISI JCR 2003-2000 IF: 3.318, 2.532, 1.445 and 0.993. WJG is a weekly journal published by WJG Press. The publication dates are the 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th day of every month. WJG is supported by The National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 30224801 and No. 30424812, and was founded with the name of China National Journal of New Gastroenterology on October 1, 1995, and renamed WJG on January 25, 1998.

About The WJG Press

The WJG Press mainly publishes World Journal of Gastroenterology.


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