Deregulation of RAD21 and RUNX1 expression in endometrial cancer

Abstract

Cohesins and cohesin-regulated genes are deregulated in numerous types of human cancer. However, data concerning their status and role in endometrial cancer are scarce. This study aimed to determine the clinical significance of double-strand-break repair protein rad21 homolog (RAD21) and runt-related transcription factor 1 (RUNX1) gene dosage and mRNA expression in endometrial cancer. RAD21 is a component of the cohesin complex, crucial for chromosome segregation and DNA repair. RUNX1 is the transcription factor implicated in RAD21 regulation. The study group included 144 endometrial cancer patients. RAD21 and RUNX1 expression profiles were measured by reverse-transcription quantitative PCR. RAD21 gene dosage was determined by quantitative PCR. RAD21 gene dosage was associated with RAD21 mRNA expression (ϱ=0.22; p=0.009). Furthermore, RAD21 expression strongly correlated with RUNX1 expression (ϱ=0.43; p<0.0000001). Increased RAD21 gene dosage correlated with more advanced tumor stage (p=0.021), higher grade (p=0.021), cervical involvement (p=0.01) and the absence of obesity (p=0.025), while RAD21 mRNA expression correlatd with cervical involvement (p=0.027). The mRNA expression of RAD21 and RUNX1 was found to be deregulated and co-dependent in endometrial cancer. RAD21 gene dosage is associated with unfavorable tumor characteristics. However, elucidating the role of these molecular markers in endometrial oncogenesis requires further investigation, including functional studies and survival analysis.