NOTCH Target Gene HES5 Distinct Anti-Tumorigenic Roles in Gastric Carcinoma

Abstract

I. Background:Gastric cancer (GC) is ranked the third greatest cause of mortality globally and the second common cancer in Iran. To date, many pathways including HES family have been found to be linked to cellular proliferation, differentiation and cancer. HES5, a transcription factor that binds to DNA, is known as a downstream protein in Notch pathway. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the association between HES5 expression and GC.II. Methods and Results:In this study,75 gastric cancer patients were included. After RNA extraction and cDNA synthesis, the expression rate of HES5 was evaluated by quantitative Real-time PCR. Also, presence of H. Pylori infection was verified using specific primers set for H. pylori, and PCR on extracted DNA. The results showed a remarkable decrease in HES level in malignant tissues when compared to the neighboring non-cancerous tissues (Normal) (P< 0.0001). Moreover, an inverse relation between down regulation of HES 5 gene and H.Pylori infection was identified. In conclusionIII. Conclusions: These findings emphasize that HES5 may notably suppress the tumor development.