Purpose: To study the differential expression of the S100 gene family at the RNA level in human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), and to find the relationship of the S100 gene family with ESCC.
Methods: Firstly, the specific primers were designed for the different S100 genes with Software Primer 3, which required that both primer sequences of each S100 gene were from two different exons respectively. Then, the differential expression of 16 S100 genes was examined by semiquantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in 62 cases of ESCC versus the corresponding normal esophageal mucosa. All RT-PCR products were analyzed by 1.5% agarose gel. With Fluor-S MultiImager and Multi-Analyst software, the electrophoresis images were evaluated with statistics analysis using SAS 8.1 software.
Results: Eleven out of 16 S100 genes were significantly downregulated ( p<0.05) in ESCC versus the normal counterparts such as S100A1, S100A2, S100A4, S100A8, S100A9, S100A10, S100A11, S100A12, S100A14, S100B, and S100P genes. Only the S100A7 gene in the S100 family was markedly upregulated ( p<0.05). Moreover, the S100B gene was significantly correlated with histological differentiation of ESCC ( p=0.0247), and the deregulation of some S100 genes was closely correlated ( p<0.05), such as S100A10/S100A11, S100A2/S100A8, S100A2/S100A14, S100A8/S100A14, and S100A2/S100P etc.
Conclusions: The S100 gene family is closely associated with ESCC.