Purpose: Altered expression of serine protease inhibitor peptidase inhibitor clade E member 2 (SERPINE2) associates with human cancer development and progression; thus, this study investigated SERPINE2 expression in gastric cancer tissues for association with clinicopathological and survival data from the patients and then investigated the role of SERPINE2 in gastric cancer cells in vitro.
Methods: The levels of SERPINE2 mRNA in 243 gastric cancer tissues and paired non-cancerous mucosa were determined using quantitative PCR. Inhibition of SERPINE2 expression by small interfering RNA (siRNA) was detected by Western blotting. tetrazolium, soft agar, and transwell assays were performed to evaluate the proliferation, anchorage-independent growth, and motility of gastric cancer SGC7901 cells transfected with SERPINE2 siRNA.
Results: Compared with the normal mucosa, SERPINE2 mRNA was increased in gastric cancer tissues and cells. Analysis of the 243 matched specimens showed that high SERPINE2 levels were associated with lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis, and clinical stage. Patients with high SERPINE2 mRNA levels had poorer survival compared with patients with low SERPINE2 mRNA levels. In vitro, SERPINE2 inhibited anchorage-independent growth, migration, and invasion of SGC7901 cells, but not proliferation.
Conclusions: Our findings indicate that upregulated SERPINE2 may contribute to the aggressive phenotype of gastric cancer and suggest that SERPINE2 can be used as a novel prognostic factor and anticancer target in patients with gastric cancer.