Abstract:

Objective   To determine the frequency of ETS (ERG, ETV1, ETV4 and ETV5) gene rearrangement, analyze the relationship between ERG rearrangement and prove whether ERG overexpression can promote the epitheial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process. Methods   Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was performed to validate the ETS gene aberrations and PTEN deletions of 128 PCa patients. Expression of androgen receptor (AR) and SOX4 was evaluated by using PV-9000 two-step immunohistochemistry method. SiRNA、Real-time PCR and western blot were utilized to study the link between ERG aberration and EMT in PCa in vitro. Results   Overall，ERG rearrangement was present in 23% (25/108) cases, of which 60% (15/25) showed deletion of the 5’end of ERG. Rearrangement of ETV1，ETV4 and ETV5 occurred in 2% (2/109), 1%(1/103) and 0% cases, respectively. ERG rearrangement was positively associated with tumor distant metastasis (P<0.05), but not with Gleason score, preoperative PSA values and clinical tumor staging. Significant positive correlations were noted between ERG rearrangement and PTEN deletion as well as SOX4 protein overexpression (P<0.05), but not with AR expression. In vitro study revealed that ERG silencing could inhibit EMT in Vcap cells. Conculsion   The freqneucy of ERG rearrangement is significantly lower in China than that in western countries. ERG rearrangement is associated with EMT, and may cooperate with other genes to promote cancer development.

Key words: Genes, ETS； Genes, ERG； Gene rearrangement； Prostatic neoplasia； Epitheialmesenchymal transition