Background & objective: Recently, changes in composition, structure, and function of nuclear matrix proteins (NMPs) in generation and development of tumors evoked more and more attention. Separation and identification of tumor-related NMPs is a new way to search for tumor specific biomarkers, and to study tumor pathogenesis. This study was to analyze differential expression of STRBP8, one of esophageal carcinoma specific NMPs, in cancerization of immortalized human esophageal epithelial cells.
Methods: NMPs were extracted from immortalized human esophageal epithelial cell line SHEE and malignantly transformed esophageal carcinoma cell line SHEEC. Differential expression of STRBP8 was detected by two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE), matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flying mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS), and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). STRBP8 cDNA obtained by RT-PCR was linked to pGEM-T easy vector, and introduced into TOP10F' E.coli competent cells. Positive clones were sequenced and analyzed with BLAST.
Results: STRBP8 was only detected in SHEEC cells by 2-DE, MALDI-TOF-MS, and RT-PCR. The sequence of positive clones contained STRBP8 cDNA was identical to that in GenBank database.
Conclusion: STRBP8, as a candidate oncogene, might relate to cancerization of esophageal epithelial cells, which might be a specific biomarker of esophageal carcinoma, and probe into the pathogenesis of esophageal carcinoma.