Combination of AQP1 and β-catenin expression is an independent prognosis factor in astrocytoma patients

// Huikun Zhang 1, 4, 5, 6, * , Fengxia Qin 1, 4, 5, 6, * , Limin Yang 2, 4, 5, 6 , Jia He 3, 4, 5, 6 , Xiaoli Liu 2, 4, 5, 6 , Ying Shao 1, 4, 5, 6 , Zhifang Guo 2, 4, 5, 6 , Ming Zhang 7 , Wenliang Li 3, 4, 5, 6 , Li Fu 1, 4, 5, 6 , Feng Gu 1, 4, 5, 6 and Yongjie Ma 2, 4, 5, 6 1 Department of Breast Cancer Pathology and Research Laboratory, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin, China 2 Department of Tumor Cell Biology, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin, China 3 Department of Neurosurgery, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin, China 4 National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin, China 5 Tianjin’s Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin, China 6 Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin, China 7 Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Biomedical Institute, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA * These authors contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Yongjie Ma, email: mayongjie@tjmuch.com Keywords: aquaporin1, β-catenin, prognosis, astrocytoma, combination Received: April 11, 2017      Accepted: July 19, 2017      Published: July 26, 2017 ABSTRACT Previous research usually focused on single protein or gene in tumor development, actually highly heterogeneous nature and different signaling pathways largely contribute to tumor progression and tumor patients’ outcomes. Therefore, using combinatorial biomarkers to evaluate the prognostic features and guide management is gradually accepted and urgently needed. β-catenin is a well-known crucial factor in astrocytoma progression and it is involved in aquaporin1 (AQP1) mediated cell migration. In this study, we revealed the function of AQP1 in astrocytoma progression and provided the first clinical evidence that AQP1 expression was positively correlated with β-catenin. Furthermore, we proved the functional role of AQP1/β-catenin pathway in astrocytoma progression. More importantly, we discovered that combination of AQP1 and β-catenin expression was an independent prognosis factor for astrocytoma patients and it was a better survival predictor than either AQP1 or β-catenin alone. In conclusion, our study provided a novel more precise prognostication for predicting astrocytoma prognosis based on combinatorial analysis of AQP1 and β-catenin expression.