Overexpression of DJ-1 correlates with aggressive clinicopathological characteristics and poor prognosis in malignant tumors: a meta-analysis

Parkinson's disease-associated 18 bp promoter variant of DJ-1 alters REST binding and regulates its expression

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder with a complex etiology. Presence of autosomal mutations in PARK7/DJ-1 gene has been associated with early-onset PD. Growing evidence has suggested that DJ-1 acts as a putative sensor of oxidative stress. Reduced levels of DJ-1 protein have been reported in the cerebrospinal fluid of sporadic PD patients. Several case-control association studies have identified DJ-1 g.168_185del (rs200968609) variants conferring susceptibility towards PD pathogenesis. Similarly, among the PD patients in eastern India, the deletion allele (g.168_185) of this DJ-1 promoter polymorphism was found to be associated with PD. Hence, we aimed to find out the functional contribution of this promoter variant of DJ-1 in PD pathogenesis. The expression of DJ-1 was observed to be significantly reduced in the presence of both deletion and duplication sequences as identified from the luciferase promoter activity assay. The transcription factor binding prediction tool identified DJ-1 promoter 18 bp insertion polymorphism as the only binding partner of REST (RE1 Silencing Transcription Factor). Transient Chromatin Immuno-precipitation (ChIP) assay further confirmed this prediction. Previous reports have highlighted the role of REST in regulating the expression of stress-responsive genes. Our study has identified the functional involvement of DJ-1 promoter variants and REST-mediated regulation of DJ-1 expression in PD pathogenesis.

Correlation Among the Expression, Clinical Significance and Prognosis of DJ-1 and Runt-Related Transcription Factor 3 in Rectal Cancer

This study explored the correlation among the expression, clinical significance, and prognosis of DJ-1 and RUNX3 in rectal cancer. Eighty-five cases of resected rectal cancer tissue were obtained from patients treated from June 2014 to June 2015. The expression ofDJ-1 and RUNX3 mRNA was detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and the expression of DJ-1 and RUNX3 protein was detected by immunohistochemistry. Their relationship to the clinicopathological features of the tumor was also analyzed. The correlation between the two proteins and survival prognosis [5-year disease-free survival(DFS)] was analyzed. RT-PCR results showed that the DJ-1 mRNA expression of cancer tissue increased, whereas that of RUNX3 decreased. Immunohistochemical results showed that the positive rate of DJ-1 protein of cancer tissue increased (69.41% vs. 21.18%), whereas that of RUNX3 decreased (40.00% vs. 77.65%). The positive expression of DJ-1 and RUNX3 was highly related to the cTNM staging of rectal cancer. Correlation analysis results showed a negative correlation between the genes in rectal cancer tissue. The follow-up records showed 5-year DFS data as follows: 50.00% for the DJ-1+/RUNX3− group, 57.14% for the DJ-1−/RUNX3− group, 71.43% for the DJ-1+/RUNX3+ group, and 82.50% for the DJ-1−/RUNX3+ group, suggesting that the 5-year DFS of the DJ-1+ group was lower, whereas that of the RUNX3+ group was higher. These results indicated that DJ-1 and RUNX3 were related to the occurrence, development, and progression of rectal cancer. Interestingly, there was a significant negative correlation between the genes, which was important for the treatment and prognosis of rectal cancer.

Impact of cyclin D1 and DJ-1 on diagnosis, clinico-pathological features and outcome in prostate cancer and benign prostatic hyperplasia

Background

Disturbance in cell cycle regulatory genes is a common finding among many types of cancers. The aim of this study is to evaluate the role of cyclin D1 and DJ-1 in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and prostate cancer (PC).

Method

The current study enclosed 40 patients diagnosed with PC and 40 cases of BPH. The expression level of cyclin D1 and DJ-1 were evaluated by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Cyclin D1 scored depending on the percentage of stained nuclear tumor cells. While scoring of DJ-1 was based on intensity. The results were correlated with clinicopathological features and outcome.

Results

In the PC group, cyclin D1 was detected in 95% and overexpressed in 42.5%, DJ-1 was positively stained in 85% and overexpressed in 47.5%. Meanwhile, in the BPH group, cyclin D1 was not detected and DJ-1 stained in only 2.5%. There was a statistically significant difference in Gleason score (GS), tumor stage, size, and treatment failure (p =< 0.001). In the terms of PC diagnosis prediction, although cyclin D1 was more specific (100%), DJ-1 is more sensitive than cyclin D1 (80%, 70%, respectively) (p = 0.000).

Conclusions

Cyclin D1 and DJ-1 may emerge as a promising way for diagnosis of PC in certain circumstances, as the presence of insufficient tissue sampling, small foci of carcinoma or benign lesions mimic PC. This is in addition to the known role of cyclin D1 and DJ-1 in PC prognosis.