Clinical and Translational Research
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Jul 26, 2022; 10(21): 7242-7255
Published online Jul 26, 2022. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i21.7242
Expression of hepatocyte nuclear factor 4 alpha, wingless-related integration site, and β-catenin in clinical gastric cancer
Qian Hu, Ling-Li Li, Ze Peng, Ping Yi
Qian Hu, Ling-Li Li, Ze Peng, Ping Yi, Department of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Institute of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, Hubei Province, China
Author contributions: Yi P designed the study; Hu Q, Li LL and Peng Z conducted the experiments; Hu Q wrote and revised the manuscript; Yi P checked the pathological results; and All authors approved the final version of the article.
Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81673757.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board at Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors have nothing to disclose.
Data sharing statement: No additional date is available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Ping Yi, MD, PhD, Doctor, Department of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Institute of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No. 1095 Jie Fang Avenue, Wuhan 430030, Hubei Province, China. pyi219@163.com
Received: March 25, 2022
Peer-review started: March 25, 2022
First decision: April 13, 2022
Revised: April 17, 2022
Accepted: June 3, 2022
Article in press: June 3, 2022
Published online: July 26, 2022
Processing time: 108 Days and 5.7 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

The authors have previously found in gastric cancer (GC) cell lines and animal models that the expression of hepatocyte nuclear factor 4 alpha (HNF4α) is significantly increased, and it promotes the invasion and metastasis of GC by regulating its downstream wingless-related integration site (WNT)/β-catenin signaling pathway, while negatively regulating the HNF4α/WNT signaling pathway can inhibit the development of GC.

Research motivation

Extending from the preclinical model to clinical GC tissues, we will continue to explore the expression of HNF4α and its downstream WNT/β-catenin signaling pathway in GC tissues, in the hope of providing new treatment ideas for inhibiting the development of GC.

Research objectives

To explore the expression of HNF4α, WNT5a and β-catenin in clinical GC tissues and adjacent tissues, and whether the expression of these three molecules in GC tissues is related.

Research methods

Screening GC tissues containing each subtype and the adjacent para-cancerous tissues; recording the demographic characteristics of the patients and the pathological type and stage of the GC tissues; and detecting the expressions of HNF4α, WNT5a and β-catenin in the GC tissues and the para-cancerous tissues by immunohistochemistry. The expression levels of these molecules were observed under the microscope and the expression levels were recorded according to the corresponding scoring criteria. Finally, the statistical methods such as analysis of chi-square and paired chi-square were used to analyze the expression differences and correlation of HNF4α, WNT5a and β-catenin in GC tissues and para-cancerous tissues.

Research results

Compared with the para-cancerous tissues, the expressions of HNF4α (nuclear staining) and WNT5a (cytoplasmic staining) in GC tissues were significantly increased, while the expression of β-catenin (cytoplasmic staining) was significantly decreased. HNF4α expression was abundant in tubular and mucinous adenocarcinomas and relatively weak in signet ring cell carcinoma; WNT5a expression was more abundant in mucinous, than in tubular adenocarcinoma and signet ring cell carcinoma; both HNF4α and WNT5a were strongly positive in mixed GC, although no positive correlations between HNF4α and WNT5a expression in GC.

Research conclusions

Comparing the expression of HNF4α, WNT5a and β-catenin in GC and para-cancerous tissues, we can find the expressions of HNF4α and WNT5a could serve as early diagnostic biomarkers for GC.

Research perspectives

It is hopeful that HNF4α and WNT5a can be included into the molecules for the diagnosis of GC.