Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor C in esophageal carcinoma and its clinical significance

Abstract

Objective To investigate the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGF-C) in human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and its clinical significance.Methods The expression of VEGF-C in ESCC and its correlation with lymph node metastasis were detected by using immunohistochemistry (IHC) and in situ hybridization (ISH).Three small interfering RNA (siRNA) expression vectors targeting VEGF-C were constructed and transformed into EC9706 cells.The inhibitory effect of siRNA on the expression of VEGF-C protein and mRNA in tranfected cells was analyzed by using Western blotting and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).Stably transfected cells were transplanted in nude mice later.The expression of VEGF-C in transplant tumor was detected by using IHC and ISH.Results VEGF-C was up-expressed in ESCC.Its expression was correlated significantly with lymph node metastasis.The positive expression rate of VEGF-C in lymph node metastasis group and non-lymph node metastasis group was 90.0％ and 62.1％ respectively (P ＜0.01 ).VEGF-C-targeted siRNA could decrease the expression of VEGF-C mRNA and protein in EC9706 cells effectively.There was significant difference between transfected group (0.32 ± 0.02) and un-transfected group (0.91 ± 0.09,P ＜0.01 ).Correspondingly,the expression of VEGF-C was 9.26 ±0.95,8.94 ±0.81,9.19 ±0.92 and 32.47 ±3.25 respectively.There was significant difference among them (P ＜0.01 ).Conclusion Targeting VEGF-C siRNA can inhibit VEGF-C expression of EC9706 in vivo and in vitro effectively. Key words: Esophageal neoplasm; Vascular endothelial growth factor C