The perinuclear reorganization of keratin 8 (K8) is an important biochemical phenomenon reflecting changes in the physical properties of metastatic cancer.
In this study, KRT8 expression was investigated and it was found to be upregulated along with human GC progression and metastasis at both mRNA and protein levels in human gastric cancer tissues.
Compared with immunohistochemical staining for cytokeratin 8, which detected metastases in 17 of 42 patients, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for MGB1 or MGB2 genes was positive in 22 patients.
Immunohistological studies indicated that COU-1, in contrast to murine monoclonal antibodies against normal cytokeratin 8 and 18, could differentiate between malignant and normal colon epithelia, and between colon cancer metastasis in the liver and surrounding normal hepatocytes.