Upregulation of GRP78 in Renal Cell Carcinoma and Its Significance

Objectives To investigate the expression of GRP78 in human renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and its significance. Methods We studied RNA and tissue section of a tumor and adjacent nontumorous renal tissues obtained from radical nephrectomy specimens of 42 patients and RCC cell lines. We used reverse transcriptase-PCR and immunohistochemistry to detect the GRP78 mRNA and protein expression, respectively. Results Reverse transcriptase-PCR revealed that GRP78 mRNA is positively expressed in RCC cell lines (786-0, OS-RC-2, and Caki-1); the GRP78 mRNA expression in the RCC and adjacent nontumorous renal tissues was 0.88 ± 0.34 and 0.44 ± 0.15, respectively ( P P P P > .05). Conclusions To our knowledge, the present study is the first to report the upregulated expression of GRP78 and that it is possibly involved in pathogenesis of RCC.