Association of Genetic Polymorphisms in FOXA1 with the Progression of Genetic Susceptibility to Gastric Cancer

Celastrol inhibits gastric cancer cell proliferation, migration, and invasion via the FOXA1/CLDN4 axis

Background

Celastrol is a biologically active compound with potent anti-tumor properties. However, the mechanism of action of celastrol in gastric cancer (GC) has not been fully elucidated.

Methods

To explore the specific mechanism of the effect of celastrol on GC cells. GC cells were transfected with forkhead box A1 (FOXA1) or claudin 4 (CLDN4), or short hairpin RNA targeting FOXA1. The expressions of FOXA1 and CLDN4 in GC cells were determined by quantitative reverse transcription PCR and Western blot. GC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion were measured by MTT assay and Transwell assay, respectively. The interaction between CLDN4 and FOXA1 was examined by luciferase reporter assay.

Resluts

CLDN4 and FOXA1 were upregulated in GC cells. Celastrol prevented the proliferation, migration, and invasion of GC cells by downregulating FOXA1 expression. Overexpression of FOXA1 or CLDN4 accelerated GC progression. CLDN4 overexpression also induced the activation of the expressions of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (AKT) pathway. FOXA1 enhanced the transcription of CLDN4.

Conclusion

Celastrol regulated GC progression via targeting the FOXA1/CLDN4 axis to impede the PI3K/AKT pathway. Our study proposed a new mechanism of how celastrol inhibited tumorigenesis in GC, which provided evidence for the potential use of celastrol for anti-GC treatment.

Case–control study on TP73 rs1801173 C > T gene polymorphism and susceptibility to gastric cancer in a Chinese Han population

Background

This study investigated the role of TP73 gene polymorphism, rs1801173on risk of gastric cancer.

Methods

We conducted a case-controlled study including 577 primary gastric cancer and 678 normal control cases. The target gene fragment was amplified using PCR using blood samples collected from patients. Allele analysis and genotyping were performed using snapshot method.

Results

The findings showed that the control group had consistent genotype frequency distribution and presented Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium. The results showed no significant differences in sex, drinking history and age distributions between subjects with the polymorphism and subjects in the control group. Smoking status was correlated with incidence of gastric cancer (P = 0.006). The rs1801173 locus of TP73 gene contained 3 genotypes including: TT, CT, and CT. Logistic regression analysis showed that distribution of recessive model and dominant model was comparable between the two groups before (P = 0.688; 0.937) or after (P = 0.703; 0.990) adjusting for confounders. The distribution frequency in case group was not significantly different relative to that of the control group (P = 0.763).

Conclusion

Smoking can independently influence the risk of gastric cancer. TP73 gene rs1801173 polymorphism was not significantly correlated with risk of gastric cancer.

Association of Genetic Polymorphisms in TNFRSF11 with the Progression of Genetic Susceptibility to Gastric Cancer

Objective

To investigate the relationship between polymorphism of TNFRSF11 gene rs9533156 and rs2277438 and susceptibility to gastric cancer.

Methods

A case-control study was conducted to select 577 cases of primary gastric cancer and 678 cases of normal control. We extracted whole blood genomic DNA and amplified the target gene fragment by PCR. The genotyping and allele were tested through the snapshot method.

Results

In this case-control study, we observed that there was a difference in the genotype distribution of TNFRSF11 gene rs9533156 between the case group and the control group. The frequency distribution of TC heterozygous mutation in the case group was higher than that in the control group. The smoking rate in the case group (34.49%) was higher than that in the control group (27.29%), and the difference in frequency distribution between the two groups was statistically significant (P=0.006). Our findings suggest that TNFRSF11 rs9533156 is associated with susceptibility to GC, which is more evident among elderly patients (>62 years), nonsmokers, and patients who do not consume alcohol. The analysis of the relationship between the TNFSF11 gene rs9533156 site variant and clinical factors of gastric cancer showed that, compared with the tumor size <2 cm group, patients with tumor size ≥2 cm and whom carrying rs9533156 site mutations had a higher frequency distribution, and the difference was statistically significant (P=0.022). Compared with the nonhyperglycemic group, the frequency distribution of patients with rs9533156 site mutations in the diabetes group was higher, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.001).

Conclusion

This study shows that there is a correlation between smoking and the occurrence of gastric cancer. Based on our research, the functional SNP TNFRSF11 TC genotype may be an indicator of individual susceptibility to GC. The mutation at rs9533156 may be related to the size of gastric cancer. The mutation rate of rs9533156 of TNFSF11 gene is higher in diabetic gastric cancer patients.