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Acylglycerol kinase is over-expressed in early-stage cervical squamous cell cancer and predicts poor prognosis

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Tumor Biology

Abstract

Acylglycerol kinase (AGK) had been shown to contribute to cancer progression and unfavorable clinical outcomes of patients. Our study aimed to investigate the expression pattern and clinical significance of AGK in patients with early-stage cervical squamous cell cancer (CSCC). The protein and messenger RNA (mRNA) expression of AGK was analyzed in six cervical cancer cell lines and four paired early-stage CSCC specimens and normal cervical tissues (NCT), using Western blotting and real-time PCR (RT-PCR). And we investigated the AGK protein expression in paraffin-embedded specimens from 140 patients with early-stage CSCC and 30 cases of NCT by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Statistical analyses were performed to evaluate the clinicopathological significance of AGK expression. The expressions of AGK protein and mRNA were significantly up-regulated in cervical cancer cell lines and cancer tissues. IHC analyses revealed that AGK was highly expressed in 93 (66.4 %) of 140 early-stage CSCC specimens, but in none of the NCT. Moreover, AGK expression in early-stage CSCC was significantly correlated with tumor stage (P < 0.001), tumor size (P < 0.001), and tumor type (P < 0.001). Early-stage CSCC patients with high AGK expression level had shorter progress-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) time compared with patients with low AGK expression levels. Univariate and multivariate analyses identified AGK expression level as an independent prognostic factor for survival of early-stage CSCC patients. We showed that AGK was over-expressed in cervical cancer cell lines and clinical tissues, and over-expression of AGK was associated with poor survival outcomes of early-stage CSCC patients. AGK can be used as an independent prognostic marker for early-stage CSCC.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a grant from the International Science & Technology Cooperation Program of China (2014DFA30180 to Y.M.), grant from the State Key Development Programs of China (2012CB966502 to Y.Y. and Y.M.), grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81471464 to Y.Y.; 30860103, 81060175, and 81460034 to Q.L.; 81260032, 81060016, and 31140021 to Y.M.), grants from Guangdong Provincial Department of Science and Technology (2011Y2-00019 and 2012GJHZ0006 to Y.Y.), grants from the Key International Cooperation Program of Science and Technology Department of Hainan Province (GJXM201106 to Y.M. and KJHZ2014-11 to Q.L.), grant from the key program of Hainan Province (ZDZX2013003 to Y.M.).

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, 1838 North Guangzhou Ave, GuangZhou, GuangDong, 510515, China

      Fei Sun, Xiao-Hua Zhou, Lu Xiao, Yan-Xing Wei, Yan-Lin Ma & Yan-Hong Yu

    2. Hainan Provincial Key Laboratory for Human Reproductive Medicine and Genetic Research, Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, Hainan, 571101, China

      Qi Li, Ping Long, Lin-Jiang Li & Yan-Lin Ma

    3. Department of Gynecologic Oncology, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center of Cancer Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, 651 Dongfeng Road East, Guangzhou, 510060, China

      Ying Xiong

    4. Department of Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center of Cancer Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, 651 Dongfeng Road East, Guangzhou, 510060, China

      Mu-Yan Cai

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    1. Fei Sun
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    Correspondence to Fei Sun, Ying Xiong, Yan-Lin Ma or Yan-Hong Yu.

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    Fei Sun, Ying Xiong, Yan-Lin Ma and Yan-Hong Yu contributed equally to this work.

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    Sun, F., Xiong, Y., Zhou, XH. et al. Acylglycerol kinase is over-expressed in early-stage cervical squamous cell cancer and predicts poor prognosis. Tumor Biol. 37, 6729–6736 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-015-4498-4

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    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-015-4498-4

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