Abstract:
Objective This study aimed to investigate the expression of EphB4 receptor and its ligand EphrinB2 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and their relationship with angiogenesis.
Methods The expression of EphB4 receptor and its ligand EphrinB2 and VEGF was detected by immunohistochemistry in tumor specimens from 60 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cases and paratumor normal specimens from 10 cases. The expression of EphB4, EphrinB2, and VEGF mRNAin 60 patients with esophageal cancer and 10 patients with paratumor normal esophageal mucosa was detected by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. The correlation among the expression levels of EphB4, EphrinB2, and VEGF mRNA was analyzed.
Results The expression levels of EphB4, EphrinB2, and VEGF mRNA, as well as of the expression levels protein, were significantly higher than that in paratumor normal esophageal mucosa (P < 0.05). The relative amount of EphB4 mRNAwas positively correlated with EphrinB2 mRNAin patients with esophageal cancer (r=0.541, P < 0.05). The relative amounts of EphB4 mRNA and EphrinB2 mRNA were positively correlated with VEGF mRNA in patients with esophageal cancer (r=0.642 and 0.582, respectively; P < 0.05).
Conclusion EphB4 and EphrinB2 are highly expressed in esophageal cancer tissue, which may be closely associated with the angiogenesis of esophageal cancer.