Objective： To investigate the expression of Notch1 and its ligand DLL4 in human gastric carcinoma tissues and its correlation with tumor angiogenic metastasis.
Methods：Immunohistochemical SP method was used to detect the expression of Notch1, DLL4 and VEGF in 45 gastric carcinoma tissues and paired adjacent normal gastric mucosa, and the relationship between them and clinico-pathological parameters were analyzed.
Results：The positive expression rate of Notch1, DLL4 and VEGF in gastric carcinoma were higher than that in normal gastric mucosa (P＜0.01). The expression of Notch1 protein in gastric carcinoma was closely related to depth of invasion, lymph node metastasis(P＜0.01) and distant metastasis(P＜0.05). The positive expression rate of DLL4 protein in gastric carcinoma was closely related to depth of invasion(P＜0.01), lymph node metastasis and TNM staging (P＜0.05). The expression of VEGF protein in gastric carcinoma was closely related to depth of invasion(P＜0.01), lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis and TNM staging (P＜0.05).There was a positive correlation between the expressions of Notch1, DLL4 and VEGF(P＜0.05).
Conclusions：The increased expressions of Notch1 and DLL4 in gastric carcinoma is closely related to VEGF and they probably play an important role in tumor angiogenesis, and are involved in invasion and metastasis of gastric carcinoma.