Elongation factor 1γ mRNA expression in oesophageal carcinoma

Abstract

Elongation factor 1γ (EF1γ) is known to be a subunit of EF1, one of the G proteins that mediate the transport of aminoacyl tRNA to 80S ribosomes during translation. As little is known regarding the expression of EF1γ in human oesophageal carcinoma, this study looked at its expression using a northern blot analysis. Thirty six cases of oesophageal carcinoma and 15 oesophageal carcinoma cell lines were studied. The EF1γ mRNA overexpression at a level of twofold or more was seen in five (14%) of 36 carcinomatous tissues compared with the normal counterparts. All five overexpressed cases showed severe lymph node metastases compared with the non-overexpressed cases, and the difference was significant (p=0.028). The stage of the disease of these five cases was far advanced compared with the nonoverexpressed cases (p=0.012). All 15 oesophageal carcinoma cells expressed EF1γ mRNA relatively lower than the gastric or pancreatic carcinoma cell lines, in which EF1γ was originally isolated. As the expression of EF1γ mRNA could be detected even in the biopsy specimens, its overexpression in tumour tissue may provide preoperative useful information for predicting the aggressiveness of tumours.