MSI2 expression is decreased in grade II of gastric carcinoma.

Gastric cancer is the second most frequent cause of cancer death worldwide. In Iran, gastric cancer is the first cause of national cancer-related mortality in men and the second one in women. In mammals, the Musashi family of RNA binding proteins comprises the Musashi1 and Musashi2 proteins, encoded by the MSI1 and MSI2 genes. Mammalian Musashi contributes to the self-renewal of various types of stem cells. Furthermore, there is mounting evidence that stem cells exist in many tissues. Due to this, Msi appears to be associated with tumorigenesis. In the present study, 30 paired gastric tissue samples were examined for MSI2 gene expression by quantitative real-time RT-PCR. Our results demonstrated that the relative expression of the gene did not significantly alter between tumoral and non-tumoral tissues and different tumor types; but there was a statistical difference between the MSI2 gene expression in different tumor grades, of note between grade I and grade II.