Abstrait

Expression and significance of CD28, CTLA-4, CD80 and CD86 in gastric cancer

Xichao Yang, Tingting Lv, Jianhong Qiang, Xueyi Li, Chaohui Zheng, Jin Ding, Zhiqin Lim, Linxuan Pang, Wanglei Du, Ping Zhu, Yanna Ba, Yinsuo Zheng, Zhenbiao Wu

Objective: To investigate the correlation between the costimulatory molecules (CD28, CTLA-4, CD80 and CD86) and the development, progression of gastric cancer.

Methods: Samples of gastric cancer tissues and tumor-adjacent normal tissues were collected from 48 gastric cancer patients who were admitted to this hospital between January 2016 and February 2017. Protein expressions of CD28, CTLA-4, CD80 and CD86 were detected in the gastric cancer tissues and tumor-adjacent tissues via Western blotting assay, while the protein levels and positive expressions of CD28, CTLA-4, CD80, CD86 and vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) were measured through immunohistochemistry assay, and we investigated the correlations of CD28, CTLA-4, CD80 and CD86 expressions with the expression of VEGF-A in gastric cancer tissues.

Results: Analysis of the Western blotting assay revealed that protein expressions of CD28, CTLA-4, CD80 and CD86 in the gastric cancer tissues were significantly higher than those in the corresponding tumor-adjacent normal tissues (p<0.05). In the gastric cancer tissues of patients, the positive rates of protein expressions of CD28, CTLA-4, CD80, CD86 and VEGF-A were significantly elevated in comparison with the corresponding tumor-adjacent normal tissues (p<0.05). Through Pearson correlation analysis, protein expressions of CD28, CTLA-4, CD80 and CD86 in gastric cancer tissues of patients were positively correlated with the expression of VEGF-A (r=0.695, 0.682, 0.637, 0.614; p<0.05).

Conclusion: Costimulatory molecules, including CD28, CTLA-4, CD80 and CD86, are highly expressed in gastric cancer, which correlates with the expression of VEGF-A in gastric cancer tissues. Costimulatory molecules may facilitate induce the angiogenesis of tumor through promoting the expression of VEGF-A, thereby accelerating the development and progression of gastric cancer. Thus, expression levels of CD28, CTLA-4, CD80, CD86 and VEGF-A may serve as the reference indicators for evaluation of the biological behaviors in gastric cancer.