Expression and clinical significance of mTOR/P70S6K signaling pathway in gastric carcinoma

Abstract

Objective To study the expression of mTOR/ P70S6K signaling pathway in human gastric carcinoma,and to investigate the effect and clinical significance of mTOR/ P70S6K signaling path-way in the occurrence and development of gastric carcinoma. Methods RT-PCR and western-blot were employed to determine the expression of mTOR/ P70S6K signaling pathway in cancerous and paracancerous tissuess of 26 cases and normal healthy tissues of 16 cases. The relationship between expression of the genes mRNA in gastric carcinom tissues and related parameters was analyzed. Results The expression level of mTOR/ P70S6K signaling pathway was markedly higher in the gastric carcinoma tissues than that in the paracancerous tissues or normal stomach tissues. There was a positive correlation between mTOR mRNA and P70S6K mRNA expression in gastric carcinom tissues. There was also a positive correlation between mTOR mRNA and P70S6K mRNA expressions in paracancerous tissues and the normal stomach tissues. The expression of mTOR/ P70S6K signaling pathway in the gastric carcinom tissues was significantly corre-lated with the pathological grading,lymph node metastasis,but not with the diameter and gender. Conclu-sions The mTOR/ P70S6K signaling pathway is specifically activated in gastric carcinom tissues. The mTOR/ P70S6K signaling pathway might play an important role in the pathogenesis of gastric carcinoma. Key words: Gastric carcinoma; mTOR; P70S6K; Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction