Downregulation of phosphorylated MKK4 is associated with a poor prognosis in colorectal cancer patients.

Mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 4 (MKK4) is a key mediator of Jun N-terminal kinase signaling and influences malignant metastasis. Here, we used immunohistochemistry to assess phosphorylated MMK4 (pMKK4) levels and examine their association with the clinicopathological features of a pilot set of patient samples consisting of normal colonic mucosa (NCM), colorectal adenoma (CA), and colorectal cancer (CRC) tissues. pMKK4 levels were also assessed in a validation set of CRC cases with accompanying follow-up data to confirm their clinicopathological and prognostic significance.

Phosphorylated p38, a negative prognostic biomarker, complements TNM staging prognostication in colorectal cancer.

Phosphorylated p38 (p-p38) played a pivotal role in the regulation of disease progression and correlated with tumor prognosis. Here, we characterized the prognostic effect of p-p38 in colorectal cancer (CRC). Three hundred and sixteen CRC patients in stages I-III were recruited in this study.

[Expression and clinicopathological significance of serine-257/threonine-261 phosphorylated MKK4 in colorectal carcinoma].

Objective: As an activator of JNK and p38, phosphorylated MKK4 is considered to be associated with tumor progression and prognosis. This study was to examine the expression of pMKK4 and evaluate its prognostic significance in colorectal carcinoma.

Methods: A total of 343 cases of colorectal cancer were followed up to analyze the associations between the expression of pMKK4 and various clinicopathological factors.

Screening for differentially methylated genes among human colorectal cancer tissues and normal mucosa by microarray chip.

Unlabelled: High density DNA methylation microarrays were used to study the differences of gene methylation level in six pairs of colorectal cancer (CRC) and adjacent normal mucosa. We analyzed the profile of methylated genes by NimbleGen Microarray and the biologic functions by NIH-NAVID. In addition, preliminary validation studies were done in six pairs of samples by MSP (methylation-specific PCR).