Antibody-based Proteomics for Esophageal Cancer: Identification of Proteins in the Nuclear Factor-kappaB Pathway and Mitotic Checkpoint

To identify the molecular background of esophageal cancer, we conducted a proteomics study using an antibody microarray consisting of 725 antibodies and surgical specimens from three cases. The microarray analysis identified 24 proteins with aberrant expression in esophageal cancer compared with the corresponding normal mucosa. The overexpression of 14 of the 24 proteins was validated by western blotting analysis of the same samples. These 14 proteins were examined by immunohistochemistry, in which nine proteins showed consistent results with those obtained by western blotting. Among the nine proteins, seven were localized in tumor cells, and two in infiltrating cells. The former included proteins associated with mitotic checkpoint control and the nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB pathway. Although mitotic checkpoint gene products (budding uninhibited by benzidazoles 1 homolog beta (BubR1) and mitotic arrest deficient-like 1 (Mad2)) have previously been reported to be involved in esophageal cancer, the association of NF-kappaB-activating kinase, caspase 10, and activator protein-1 with esophageal cancer has not been previously reported. These proteins play a key role in the NF-kappaB pathway, and NF-kappaB is a signal transduction factor that has emerged as an important modulator of altered gene programs and malignant phenotype in the development of cancer. The association of these proteins with esophageal cancer may indicate that mitotic checkpoint gene products and NF-kappaB play an important part in the carcinogenesis of esophageal cancer.