Background: The A-kinase anchor proteins (AKAP) are a growing family of scaffolding proteins involved in the occurrence, proliferation, and metastasis of tumors by controlling intracellular signals. In this study, the expression and significance of AKAP4 were analyzed in patients with lung adenocarcinoma and adjacent non-cancerous tissues.
Methods: Using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and Western blot, AKAP4 messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) and protein expression levels were measured in 108 cases of lung adenocarcinoma and adjacent non-cancerous tissues.
Results: AKAP4 mRNA and protein were expressed in lung adenocarcinoma tissues, but not in adjacent non-cancerous tissues. The expression of AKAP4 mRNA and protein was closely associated with lymphatic metastasis (P < 0.05), but had no relationship with stage, differentiation degree, gender, age or smoking (P > 0.05). AKAP4 expression had an adverse effect on the overall survival rate (P < 0.05).
Conclusion: The expression of AKAP4 was high in lung adenocarcinoma tissue, which may be closely related to the lymphatic metastasis of lung adenocarcinoma. AKAP4 may be a novel lung adenocarcinoma molecule marker and a predictor of poor prognosis.
Keywords: AKAP4; Adenocarcinoma; lung cancer.