Clinical significance of S100A2 expression in gastric cancer

Gastric carcinoma (GC) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide. To identify the candidate carcinoma-related biomarker in GC, comparative proteome technique was performed in resected GC tissues and matched adjacent non-cancerous gastric tissues (ANGT). As a result, S100A2 was successfully identified to be down-regulated significantly in GC compared with ANGT. Western blot analysis validated decreased expression of S100A2, and its expression level was related with the degree of tumor differentiation and status of lymph node metastasis in GC. Furthermore, immunohistochemistry analysis showed S100A2 down-expression was significantly associated with poor differentiation (P < 0.05), advanced depth of invasion (P < 0.05) and lymph node metastasis (P < 0.05) in GC. Kaplan–Meier curves showed that the relapse-free probability and the overall survival rate were significantly decreased with S100A2 expression decreasing (P < 0.05). Cox regression analysis indicated S100A2 down-expression was a negative independent prognostic biomarker for GC. A supplement of S100A2 protein by S100A2 expression vector significantly decreased the number of invaded cancer cells MGC-803. However, knockdown of S100A2 expression by siRNA interference compromised the invasion ability of MGC-803 cells. Moreover, S100A2 negatively regulated MEK/ERK signaling pathway, and activation of this signaling pathway by S100A2 down-regulation increased in vitro invasion of MGC-803 cells. In conclusion, this study demonstrated the clinical significance of S100A2 expression in GC, and loss of S100A2 expression contributes to GC development and progression. Therefore, the determination of S100A2 expression levels contributes to predict the outcome of GC patients.