Alterations in Gene Expression of Components of the Renin-Angiotensin System and Its Related Enzymes in Lung Cancer.

Abstract

Objectives: The study assessed the existence and significance of associations between the expression of fifteen renin-angiotensin system component genes and lung adenocarcinoma.

Materials and methods: NCBI's built-in statistical tool, GEO2R, was used to calculate Student's t-tests for the associations found in a DNA expression study of adenocarcinoma and matched healthy lung tissue samples. The raw data was processed with GeneSpring™ and then used to generate figures with and without Sidak's multiple comparison correction.

Results: Ten genes were found to be significantly associated with adenocarcinoma. Seven of these associations remained statistically significant after correction for multiple comparisons. Notably, AGTR2, which encodes the AT₂ angiotensin II receptor subtype, was significantly underexpressed in adenocarcinoma tissue (p < 0.01). AGTR1, ACE, ENPEP, MME, and PRCP, which encode the AT₁ angiotensin II receptor, angiotensin-converting enzyme, aminopeptidase N, neprilysin, and prolylcarboxypeptidase, respectively, were also underexpressed. AGT, which encodes angiotensinogen, the angiotensin peptide precursor, was overexpressed in adenocarcinoma tissue.

Conclusion: The results suggest an association between the expression of the genes for renin-angiotensin system-related proteins and adenocarcinoma. While further research is necessary to conclusively demonstrate a link between the renin-angiotensin system and lung cancers, the results suggest that the renin-angiotensin system plays a role in the pathology of adenocarcinoma.