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ABSTRACT: Background
Aquaporins (AQPs) have been recognized to promote tumor progression, invasion, and metastasis and are therefore recognized as promising targets for novel anti-cancer therapies. Potentially relevant AQPs in distinct cancer entities can be determined by a comprehensive expression analysis of the 13 human AQPs.Methods
We analyzed the presence of all AQP transcripts in 576 different normal lung and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) samples using microarray data and validated our findings by qRT-PCR and immunohistochemistry.Results
Variable expression of several AQPs (AQP1, -3, -4, and -5) was found in NSCLC and normal lung tissues. Furthermore, we identified remarkable differences between NSCLC subtypes in regard to AQP1, -3 and -4 expression. Higher transcript and protein levels of AQP4 in well-differentiated lung adenocarcinomas suggested an association with a more favourable prognosis. Beyond water transport, data mining of co-expressed genes indicated an involvement of AQP4 in cell-cell signalling, cellular movement and lipid metabolism, and underlined the association of AQP4 to important physiological functions in benign lung tissue.Conclusions
Our findings accentuate the need to identify functional differences and redundancies of active AQPs in normal and tumor cells in order to assess their value as promising drug targets.
SUBMITTER: Warth A
PROVIDER: S-EPMC3098822 | biostudies-literature | 2011 May
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Warth Arne A Muley Thomas T Meister Michael M Herpel Esther E Pathil Anita A Hoffmann Hans H Schnabel Philipp A PA Bender Christian C Buness Andreas A Schirmacher Peter P Kuner Ruprecht R
BMC cancer 20110506
<h4>Background</h4>Aquaporins (AQPs) have been recognized to promote tumor progression, invasion, and metastasis and are therefore recognized as promising targets for novel anti-cancer therapies. Potentially relevant AQPs in distinct cancer entities can be determined by a comprehensive expression analysis of the 13 human AQPs.<h4>Methods</h4>We analyzed the presence of all AQP transcripts in 576 different normal lung and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) samples using microarray data and valida ...[more]