Affiliations: Department of Biotechnology, University of Kashmir,
Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India | Department of Pathology, Shri Maharaja Hari Singh
Hospital, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India | Department of Surgery, Shri Maharaja Hari Singh
Hospital, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India | Department of Pathology, Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of
Medical Sciences, Soura, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India
Note: [] Corresponding author: Firdous A. Khanday, Department of
Biotechnology, University of Kashmir, 190006, Jammu and Kashmir, India. Tel.:
+91 990 646 2206; Fax: +91 194 242 8723; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: The expression of E3B1/ABI-1 protein and its role in cancer
progression and prognosis are largely unknown in the majority of solid tumors.
In this study, we examined the expression pattern of E3B1/ABI-1 protein in
histologically confirmed cases of esophageal (squamous cell carcinoma and
adenocarcinoma), gastro-esophageal junction, colorectal cancers and
corresponding normal tissues freshly resected from a cohort of 135 patients, by
Western Blotting and Immunofluorescence Staining. The protein is present in its
phosphorylated form in cells and tissues. Depending on the extent of
phosphorylation it is either present in hyper-phosphorylated (M. Wt. 72 kDa)
form or in hypo-phosphorylated form (M. Wt. 68 kDa and 65 kDa). A thorough
analysis revealed that expression of E3B1/ABI-1 protein is significantly
decreased in esophageal, gastro-esophageal junction and colorectal carcinomas
irrespective of age, gender, dietary and smoking habits of the patients. The
decrease in expression of E3B1/ABI-1 was consistently observed for all the
three isoforms. However, the decrease in the expression of isoforms varied with
different forms of cancers. Down-regulation of E3B1/ABI-1 expression in human
carcinomas may play a critical role in tumor progression and in determining
disease prognosis.
