Alpha B-crystallin Expression and Its Significance in Colon Carcinoma Tissues

Objective To study the expression of alpha B-crystallin in colon carcinoma, and its relation in clinical pathology of colon carcinoma. Methods The expression of alpha B-crystallin mRNA was detected using RT-PCR in 64 colon carcinoma tissues and adjacent normal tissues. The expression level of alpha B-crystallin protein was detected by RT-PCR and Western blot. The detection rates of alpha B-crystallin mRNA and protein expression in cancer tissues and adjacent normal tissues were analyzed. Results Alpha B-crystallin mRNA expression rate in cancer tissues was significantly higher than adjacent normal tissues (P<0.01). The patients with colon cancer involving the serosa obtained obviously higher alpha B-crystallin expression rate than the one not involving the serosa, The group which has bigger tumor or with lymph node metastasis has higher expression of alpha B-crystallin than those group with smaller size of tumor or without lymph node metastasis (P<0.05), and its expression has no correlation with age, sex and tumor differentiation (P>0.05). The protein of alpha B-crystallin was detected in cancer tissues but not in adjacent normal tissues (P<0.01) by Western blotting. Conclusion The expression of alpha B-crystallin is positively correlated with tumorogenesis and progression of colon cancer. It may be used as a good marker for clinic therapeutic purpose and prognosis estimation of colon cancer.