BACKGROUND: Serine hydroxymethyltransferase (SHMT) is the enzyme that catalyzes the reversible conversion of serine to glycine and tetrahydrofolate-bound one-carbon unit. Upregulation of SHMT2 has been observed in a variety of cancers, but the expression profile and clinical value of SHMT2 in gastric cancer (GC) are still unknown.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: In this study, SHMT2 expression was assessed in 130 patients with GC by immunohistochemistry (IHC). mRNA of SHMT2 in GC tissues and normal gastric epithelium was compared with qRT-PCR results. The correlations between SHMT2 and the clinicopathologic factors were analyzed with the chi-square test. Univariate analysis with Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate the correlations between survival rate and clinicopathologic factors, including SHMT2. The independent prognostic biomarkers were confirmed by multivariate analysis using the Cox-regression hazard model. The function of SHMT2 in progression of GC was assessed by in vitro experiments.

RESULTS: The percentages of low and high expression of SHMT2 were 46.92% and 53.08%, respectively. SHMT2 mRNA in GC tissue was significantly higher than mRNA in the patient-paired adjacent tissues. In the clinical analysis, SHMT2 expression was notably associated with positive lymphatic invasion. High SHMT2 was also demonstrated to independently predict poor prognosis of GC. After silencing SHMT2, we proved that SHMT2 can promote proliferation and invasion of GC cells.

CONCLUSIONS: High SHMT2 promoted progression and was an independent prognostic biomarker of GC, suggesting that SHMT2 detection would be helpful for stratification of high-risk patients and thus directing personalized treatment.

Keywords: Aminomethyltransferase