BACKGROUND:Pancreatic cancer is closely related to epigenetic abnormality.The epithelial cell transforming sequence 2 gene(ECT2)plays a critical role in Rho activation during cytokinesis,and thus may play a role in the pathogenesis of pancreatic cancer.In this study,we investigated the relationships between aberrant expression and epigenetic changes of the ECT2 gene in pancreatic cancer. METHODS:Four cell lines(PANC-1,Colo357,T3M-4 and PancTuⅠ)and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma(PDAC) tissues were used for mRNA detection.After restriction isoschizomer endonucleases(MspⅠ/HpaⅡ)were used to digest the DNA sequence(5’-CCGG-3’),PCR was made to amplify the product.And RT-PCR was applied to determine the expression of the gene. RESULTS:The mRNA expression of the ECT2 gene was higher in pancreatic tumor tissue than in normal tissue. The gene was also expressed in the 4 PDAC cell lines.The methylation states of the upstream regions of the ECT2 gene were almost identical in normal,tumor pancreatic tissues,and the 4 PDAC cell lines.Some of the 5’-CCGG-3’ areas in the upstream region of ECT2 were methylated, while others were unmethylated.CONCLUSIONS:The oncogene ECT2 is overexpressed in pancreatic tumor tissues as verified by RT-PCR detection. The methylation status of DNA in promoter areas is involved in the gene expression,along with other factors,in pancreatic cancer. BACKGROUND: Pancreatic cancer is closely related to epigenetic abnormalities. The epithelial cell transforming sequence 2 gene (ECT2) plays a critical role in Rho activation during cytokinesis, and thus may play a role in the pathogenesis of pancreatic cancer. In this study, we the relationships between aberrant expression and epigenetic changes of the ECT2 gene in pancreatic cancer. METHODS: Four cell lines (PANC-1, Colo357, T3M-4 and PancTuI) and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma PCR was made to amplify the product. And RT-PCR was applied to determine the expression of the gene. RESULTS: The mRNA of isoschizomer endonucleases (Msp I / Hpa II) was used to digest the DNA sequence (5’-CCGG- expression of the ECT2 gene was higher in pancreatic tumor tissue than in normal tissue. The gene was also expressed in the 4 PDAC cell lines. The methylation states of the upstream regions of the ECT2 gene were almost identical in normal, tumor p ancreatic tissues, and the 4 PDAC cell lines. Home of the 5’-CCGG-3 ’regions in the upstream region of ECT2 were methylated, while others were unmethylated. CONCLUSIONS: The oncogene ECT2 is overexpressed in pancreatic tumor tissues as verified by RT -PCR detection. The methylation status of DNA in promoter areas is involved in the gene expression, along with other factors, in pancreatic cancer.