Our results also showed that hsa-miR-29c-5p is an important regulator of CDC42 and DNMT3A genes in the intestinal subtype gastric cancer and hsa-miR-135b-5p regulates the APC gene in both intestinal and diffuse subtypes of GC.
TP53 mutation, allelic deletion of the APC gene and nuclear staining of β-catenin are frequently detected in the intestinal phenotype of GC, whereas CDH1 gene mutation, microsatellite instability and DNA hypermethylation of MLH1 are common events in the gastric phenotype of GC.
The frequencies in GC serum were 30.67% for APC, 34.67% for WIF-1, 37.33% for RUNX-3, 29.33% for DLC-1, 33.33% for SFRP-1, 32% for DKK, and 26.67% for E-cad.
Five different classes of methylation behaviors were found: (1) genes methylated in GC only (GSTP1 and RASSF1A); (2) genes showing low methylation frequency (<12%) in CG, IM, and GA, but significantly higher methylation frequency in GC (COX-2, hMLH1, and p16); (3) a gene with low and similar methylation frequency (8.8-21.3%) in four-step lesions (MGMT); (4) genes with high and similar methylation frequency (53-85%) in four-step lesions (APC and E-cadherin); and (5) genes showing an increasing tendency with or without fluctuation of the methylation frequency along the progression (DAP-kinase, p14, THBS1, and TIMP3).
Five different classes of methylation behaviors were found: (a). genes methylated in GC only (GSTP1 and RASSF1A), (b). genes showing low methylation frequency (<12%) in CG, IM, and gastric adenoma (GA) but significantly higher methylation frequency in GC (COX-2, hMLH1, p16), (c). a gene with low and similar methylation frequency (8.8-21.3%) in four-step lesions (MGMT), (d). genes with high and similar methylation frequency (53-85%) in four-step lesions (APC and E-cadherin), and (e). genes showing an increasing tendency with or without fluctuation of the methylation frequency along the progression (DAP-kinase, p14, THBS1, and TIMP-3).
APC mutation is involved in carcinogenesis of intestinal type of gastric cancer and is independent of MSI phenotype but related to the LOH pathway in gastric cancer.
Gastric cancer showed frequent genetic alterations of the APC gene, and the risk for gastric cancer in familial adenomatosus polyposis patients is 10 times higher than that in the general population.
Mutation of the hMSH6 gene was observed in a subset of gastric cancers (4/30, 13.3%), but was not associated with P53 overexpression or APC gene mutation.
These data suggest that allelic deletion of the p53 gene in intestinal-type gastric carcinoma predicts the invasive potential of mucosal cancer, and that inactivation of the APC gene plays a role in the genetic tumorigenesis of both intestinal and diffuse types of gastric cancer.
Our results suggest that there are distinct differences in the molecular pathogenesis of gastric and pancreatic cancer and that abnormalities of APC and MCC may be involved particularly in the diffuse type of gastric cancer.
Since some gastric cancers are considered to originate from the intestinal metaplasia, it is likely that the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene, the mutation of which causes adenomatous polyps in the colon, is associated with carcinogenesis of gastric cancer.
We searched for somatic mutations of the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene in DNA samples isolated from 57 sporadic gastric cancers, by means of a ribonuclease (RNase) protection analysis coupled with DNA amplification by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR).