Overexpression of serine-arginine protein kinase 1 and transforming growth factor-β1 were associated with poor prognosis of patients with non-small cell lung cancer

Objective: The aim of present study was to investigate the mRNA and protein expression levels of serine-arginine protein kinase 1 (SRPK1) and transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta 1) in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) and to determine the relationships of SRPK1 or TGF-beta 1 expression with clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis in NSCLC patients. Methods: The expression levels of SRPK1 and TGF-beta 1 were detected by real-time quantitative PCR and Western blot in NSCLC tissues and adjacent non-tumor tissues. In addition, SRPK1 and TGF-beta 1 expressions were analyzed by immunohistochemistry in formalin-fixed samples from 105 NSCLC patients. Results: We found the mRNA and protein expression levels of SRPK1 and TGF-beta 1 expression was significantly up-regulated in NSCLC tissues compared with adjacent non-tumor tissues. There was a significantly positive correlation between SRPK1 expression and TGF-beta 1 expression in NSCLC tissues. In addition, smoking status, histological subtype and N stage were identified as the relative factors of SRPK1 expression, while T stage and N stage were identified as the relative factors of TGF-beta 1 expression in NSCLC tissues. Multivariate Cox analysis indicated that T stage, N stage, SRPK1 expression and TGF-beta 1 expression were independent prognostic indicators for NSCLC patients. Conclusions: SRPK1 and TGF-beta 1 were over-expressed in NSCLC and may be promising indicators of prognosis for NSCLC patients.