Quantitative analysis of nm23 gene product in human cancers

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The total amount of nm23 protein, relative rations of H1 and H2 isoform (H2/H1) in human normal tissues, lung cancer tissues, endometrial cancer tissues were studied in combination with semiquantitative immunoblot technique followed densitometry and immunohistochemistry using monoclonal antibody against nm23 protein (Pan-242). All tissues including cancer tissues contained both isoform recognized in 20.5 kD as H1 and 18kD as H2 isoforms. In normal tissues, the level of total nm23 protein was higher in liver, kidney and adrenal gland, and lesser in heart and muscle tissues. H2 levels were higher than H1 levels in all tissues, examined, and their H2/H1 rations were varied from tissue to tissue. The immunohistochemistry revealed that the parenchymal cells were homogeneously stained in liver, pancreas and adrenal gland tissues and heterogeneously stained in gastric mucosa and kidney tissues. On the other hand, in lung cancers, both H1 and H2 levels in cancer tissues were higher than non-neoplastic lung tissues, and tumor H2/H1 ratio were lower than non-neoplastic ones in adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma of the lung. Our study indicate that nm23 protein levels in adenocarcinoma of the lung were significantly correlated with histologic differentiation of tumors, whereas they were not correlated with metastasis potentials and tumor stage. Furthermore, in endometrial cancers, the expression of nm23-H1 and H2 was not correlated with stage, metastasis, tumor size, myometrial invasion, estrogen receptor or menopause. It follows from the findings presented that the high expression o nm23-H1 and -H2 is positively correlated with histological differentiation.