Expression of Putative Tumor Suppressor Gene Spleen Tyrosine Kinase in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Background: To study the expression of Syk (spleen tyrosine kinase) gene in human ESCC (esophageal squamous cell carcinoma). Methods: We used immunohistochemical staining to detect Syk protein expression in esophageal carcinoma tissues and RT-PCR (semi-quantitative reverse transcription PCR), Real-time PCR (Real-time quantitative PCR) and western blotting technique to detect the expression of Syk mRNA and protein in specimens from 4 esophageal cell lines. Results: Immunohistochemistry analyses showed that in the esophageal cancer tissues Syk protein was expressed inferior to the adjacent normal one, p < 0.05. Real-time PCR and Western blotting showed that low expression of the Syk gene was detected in the 4 esophageal cancer cell lines compared with positive and negative cell lines, p < 0.05. Conclusions: The low expression of the Syk gene may play an important role in tumorigenesis in esophageal cancer.