Low junctional adhesion molecule A expression correlates with poor prognosis in gastric cancer

• Published in: The Journal of surgical research 2014-12, Vol.192 (2), p.494-502
• Main Authors: Huang, Jin-yu, MD, Xu, Ying-ying, MD, PhD, Sun, Zhe, MD, PhD, Wang, Zhen-ning, MD, PhD, Zhu, Zhi, MD, PhD, Song, Yong-xi, MD, Luo, Yang, MD, PhD, Zhang, Xue, MD, PhD, Xu, Hui-mian, MD, PhD
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Biomarkers, Tumor - metabolism; Cell Adhesion Molecules - metabolism; Cell Movement; Cell Proliferation; Disease Progression; Down-Regulation; Female; Gastrectomy; Gastric cancer; Humans; Immunohistochemistry; Invasion; JAM-A; Junctional adhesion molecule A; Kaplan-Meier Estimate; Lymph Node Excision; Lymph Nodes - metabolism; Lymph Nodes - pathology; Lymph Nodes - surgery; Male; Middle Aged; Migration; Neoplasm Invasiveness; Predictive Value of Tests; Prognosis; Receptors, Cell Surface - metabolism; Sincalide - metabolism; Stomach Neoplasms - metabolism; Stomach Neoplasms - mortality; Stomach Neoplasms - surgery; Surgery; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0022-4804; 1095-8673
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jss.2014.06.025

Abstract Background The aberrant expression of junctional adhesion molecule A (JAM-A), which has a close correlation with the development, progression, metastasis, and prognosis of cancer, has been frequently reported. However, neither JAM-A expression nor its correlation with clinicopathologic variables and patient survival has been defined in gastric cancers. Moreover, little is known about the role of JAM-A in gastric cancer progression. We carried out the present study to investigate the prognostic value of JAM-A expression in gastric cancer patients. Furthermore, the biological roles of JAM-A in gastric cancer progression were also investigated. Methods We determined JAM-A expression in 167 primary gastric cancer tissues and 94 matched adjacent non-tumor tissues by immunohistochemistry. Transwell migration assays and matrigel invasion assays were used to explore the role of JAM-A in gastric cancer cells migration and invasion. CCK-8 assays were used to examine the effect of JAM-A on the proliferation of gastric cancer cells. Results JAM-A was downregulated in gastric cancer tissues. Low JAM-A expression was significantly associated with tumor size, lymphatic vessel invasion, lymph node metastasis, and TNM stage. Low JAM-A expression was also significantly associated with poor disease-specific survival in gastric cancer patients. Multivariate analysis demonstrated low JAM-A expression as an independent factor predicting poor survival. In addition, JAM-A had the effect on inhibition of gastric cancer cells migration and invasion. However, JAM-A had no significant effects on proliferation of gastric cancer cells. Conclusions Low JAM-A expression correlates with poor clinical outcome and promotes cell migration and invasion in gastric cancer.