Expression of Putative Tumor Suppressor Gene Spleen Tyrosine Kinase in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Abstract

To study the expression of Syk (spleen tyrosine kinase) gene in human ESCC (esophageal squamous cell carcinoma). We used immunohistochemical staining to detect Syk protein expression in esophageal carcinoma tissues and RT-PCR (semi-quantitative reverse transcription PCR), Real-time PCR (Real-time quantitative PCR) and western blotting technique to detect the expression of Syk mRNA and protein in specimens from 4 esophageal cell lines. Immunohistochemistry analyses showed that in the esophageal cancer tissues Syk protein was expressed inferior to the adjacent normal one, p < 0.05. Real-time PCR and Western blotting showed that low expression of the Syk gene was detected in the 4 esophageal cancer cell lines compared with positive and negative cell lines, p < 0.05. The low expression of the Syk gene may play an important role in tumorigenesis in esophageal cancer.