Suppression of N-myc downstream-regulated gene 2 is associated with induction of Myc in colorectal cancer and correlates closely with differentiation.

NDRG2, a new member of the N-Myc downstream-regulated gene (NDRG) family, is a focus for study at present. Up to now, its expression and function in carcinoma remain to be elucidated. In this study, using a colorectal cancer tissue array and a series of 213 colorectal cancer samples, the relationship between Ndrg2 and c-MYC expression and tumor differentiation level was investigated. Immunohistochemistry showed that Ndrg2 expression was reduced and that c-Myc was increased in colorectal carcinomas. In addition, Ndrg2 protein levels increased from poorly differentiated to well-differentiated carcinomas (p=0.005). Real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blots demonstrated quantitatively that NDRG2 mRNA and protein levels were lower in colorectal carcinomas compared to the adjacent tissue and normal tissue from the same individual (p=3×10−8). Also, the NDRG2 expression level in adjacent carcinoma tissue was lower than that of normal tissue. However, the expression pattern of c-MYC was the inverse (p=5×10−8). Finally, we induced the differentiation of the colorectal carcinoma cell lines HT29, SW480 and SW620 and found that NDRG2 expression increased and that c-MYC expression declined with increasing differentiation. These novel data show a disparity in both the mRNA and protein expression levels of Ndrg2 and c-Myc between colorectal cancers and normal tissues. Taken together, NDRG2 may play a role during the differentiation of colorectal cancer cells, and the function of NDRG2 in the development of colorectal cancer should be further investigated.