Objective  This work aimed to investigate the expression of the Gli1 and PDGF-D proteins in colorectal cancer and its clinical significance.

  Methods  Immunohistochemistry and Western blot analysis were used to detect the expression of Gli1 and PDGF-D in tissue samples from 54 colorectal cancer case patients and adjacent normal tissues from 30.The Results were obtained after clinicopathological features were analyzed.

  Results  Immunohistochemical assay showed that the positive rates of Gli1 and PDGF-D in the colorectal cancer tissue samples(72.22% and 74.07%, respectively) were significantly higher than those in the normal tissues(6.67% and 33.33%, respectively)(P < 0.05).Western blot analysis revealed that the relative expression levels of Gli1 and PDGF-D in the colorectal cancer tissue samples(0.731±0.238 and 0.817±0.288, respectively) were also significantly higher than those in the normal tissue samples(0.196 ± 0.041 and 0.236±0.060, respectively)(P < 0.05).The expression of Gli1 and PDGF-D was positively correlated with the differentiation of colorectal cancer and lymph node metastasis, and the expression of PDGF-D was also positively correlated with the World Health Organization tumor-node-metastasis staging system(P < 0.05).Neither gene was correlated with patient sex, patient age, tumor size, and depth of tumor invasion(P > 0.05).The expression of Gli1 and that of PDGF-D were positively correlated(P < 0.05).

  Conclusion  Gli1 and PDGF-D are expressed in colorectal cancer at abnormally high levels.They may act in concert and play an important role in the carcinogenesis of the disease.