The development and identification of novel potential targeting sites for intervention
therapy are essential in the search for improved treatment methods for
gastric cancer (GC). Previously, it has been reported that
hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) is a potential target gene involved in the endogenous hypoxic response and bioenergetic metabolism of GC cells. In the present study, with the assumption of a close interplay among HIF-1α,
glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) and
lactate dehydrogenase-5 (LDH-5), 85 patients with GC were recruited and the
protein and gene expression levels of HIF-1α, GLUT1 and LDH-5 in
tumor tissues were evaluated in order to assess clinical correlations and co-expression patterns, using Immunohistochemical staining and reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The results demonstrated that the
protein and gene expression levels of HIF-1α were significantly associated with the depth of invasion, nodal
metastasis, clinical stage, differentiation and distant
metastasis. Consistent with the
protein expression results, the
mRNA expression levels of the genes coding for GLUT1 and LDH-5 were clearly associated with
tumor size, depth of invasion, distant
metastasis, clinical stage and differentiation. Correlation analysis of HIF-1α with GLUT1 and LDH-5 at the
protein and
mRNA expression levels in gastric
carcinoma indicated that HIF-1α expression was positively correlated with the expression of GLUT1 (P<0.01, r=0.765 for
mRNA expression; P<0.01, r=0.697 for
protein expression) and LDH-5 (P<0.01, r=0.892 for
mRNA expression; P<0.01, r=0.783 for
protein expression) at the
mRNA and
protein levels. Therefore, it may be concluded that HIF-1α, GLUT1 and LDH-5 are potential target genes involved in the endogenous
tumor response to
hypoxia and the inhibition of
tumor energy metabolism, highlighting a novel therapeutic target for GC.