Heterogeneous CD38 expression in tumor tissues of patients with colorectal cancer

Abstract

The CD38 gene encodes a membrane bound protein that takes part in cell adhesion and catalyzes the formation of cyclic ADP ribose. The presence of the full size and alternative forms of CD38 mRNA in tumor tissue specimens from patients with colorectal cancer and tumor cell lines was analyzed by RT PCR. It was shown that tumor specimens contained cells that constantly express CD38; full size CD38 mRNA was detected more frequently than its alternative form. CD38 mRNA was found in Colo 205, T 84, HCT15, and HCT116 cells, but not in Caco 2 or SW 620 cells. CD38 expression was observed in all cases of stage I colo rectal cancer; at stages II, III, and IV, it was significantly less frequent. The frequency of CD38 mRNA detec tion did not depend on the localization or grade of the tumor, or the presence of metastases. An analysis using methylation sensitive restriction endonucleases showed that CpG dinucleotides were methylated at the bind ing sites of the Sp1 transcription factor and retinoic acid receptor in all tumor specimens studied, regardless of the presence or absence of CD38 mRNA. The obtained data suggest that CD38 expression in tumor cells of colorectal cancer patients is heterogeneous.

CD38 is highly expressed and affects the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway in cervical cancer

“…At the same time, the results of IHC showed that there was a 40% (12/30) high score of CD38 in cervical cancer tissues and 16.6% (5/30) in the adjacent non-cancerous tissues (p= 0.02<0.05). Perenkov et al (35) found that the expression of the CD38 gene is heterogeneous in the tumor cells of patients with colorectal cancer. CD38 expression is triggered at least in part by a certain cytokine(s) secreted by cancer cells (36).…”

Insight Into Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide Homeostasis as a Targetable Metabolic Pathway in Colorectal Cancer

“…Whether in cancer biology this enzymatic activity is important has never been ascertained. On the other hand, as a receptor, CD38 is responsible of T cell activation, in particular in lamina propria cells, promoting colitis (Lischke et al, 2013) and it has been considered a positive prognostic marker for CRC (Perenkov et al, 2012). Karakasheva et al have highlighted that CD38 might be an interesting target for metastatic CRC.…”