Objective: To explore the different gene expressions of normal versus tumor tissues of gastric cancer at molecular levels.
Methods: Gene chip technology was used to determine the differentially expressed genes between gastric cancer (n = 12) and normal tissues (n = 12) from December 2009 to June 2010 of Xinhua Hospital of Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine. And reverse transcriptase (RT)-PCR was performed to validate the results of gene chip analysis.
Results: Sixty-nine up-regulated genes and 80 down-regulated genes were identified by significance analysis of microarrays (SAM). And these genes were correlated with cell adhesion, angiogenesis, cell proliferation and apoptosis, et al. They were also closely correlated with the signaling pathways of Wnt (1/151, 0.66%) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) (2/76, 2.63%). The differential expressions of ATP4A, CLDN10, OLFM4, SAA1 and PROK2 were confirmed by RT-PCR (0.94 ± 0.19 vs 4.33 ± 0.39, 1.00 ± 0.14 vs 3.04 ± 0.26, 5.37 ± 0.30 vs 1.02 ± 0.14, 4.37 ± 0.30 vs 0.95 ± 0.29, 2.62 ± 0.54 vs 1.35 ± 0.35, all P < 0.05).
Conclusion: The classifier genes identified in this study may be closely correlated with the carcinogenesis of gastric cancer.