Gene expression of trefoil proteins, gastrokines and mucins in Indian gastric cancer patients

Background: Gastric cancer is the (GC) third most cause of cancer related mortality worldwide. Histopathologically, GC is sub classified into two major histopathological subtypes- diffuse and intestinal. The trefoil factor family - TFF1, TFF2 and TFF3 is known to play a pivotal role in gastrointestinal mucosal defence and repair. Gastrokines (GKN1, GKN2) are stomach specific secretary proteins which play fundamental roles in regulating gastric epithelial homeostasis. Similarly, secreted mucins are large O-glycosylated proteins that participate in the protection/defence of underlying mucosa in normal adults. The loss of expression of trefoil proteins, gastrokines and several mucins in retinoblastoma and colorectal cancer are reported in recent studies. Aims: The molecular underpinnings and gene expression of Indian GC patients are largely unknown. In this study, we evaluated the gene expression of TFF1, TFF2, TFF3, GKN1, GKN2, MUC3A, MUC5AC, MUC13 in gastric cancer patients from India. Additionally, we wanted to see whether these gene expressions are different in two histopathological groups. Materials and Methods: Endoscopic biopsy tissue from gastric tumour and adjacent normal regions were collected with ethical approval and informed consent from 42 patients . After histopathological confirmation by two pathologists, total RNA were isolated from tumour and corresponding normal tissue and gene expression was measured by qRT-PCR. Statistical analysis was performed by R package. Result and Discussion: We identified that TFF1, TFF2, TFF3, GKN1, GKN2 are significantly differentially expressed in gastric tumour tissue with respect to adjacent normal tissue whereas mucins had no significant deregulation. TFF1, TFF2, GKN1 and GKN2 are found to be down regulated in most tumour tissues compared to adjacent normal. Only GKN2 expression is significantly different among diffuse and intestinal subtypes . Our statistical analysis also revealed that gene expression of TFF1, TFF2, GKN1 and GKN2 are highly correlated with the gene expression of MUC5AC. Further study with larger patient sample is required to fully understand the complex interplay of trefoil, gastrokines and mucins in GC. Citation Format: Dipjit Basak, Pronoy Kanti Mondal, Brishti Mondal, Ranajoy Ghosh, Aniket Halder, Gopal Krishna Dhali, Abhijit Chowdhury, Indranil Mukhopadhyay, Shalini Datta. Gene expression of trefoil proteins, gastrokines and mucins in Indian gastric cancer patients [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 1518.