Biological significance of EPHA2 expression in neuroblastoma

Neuroblastoma is a pediatric solid tumor that exhibits striking clinical bipolarity. Despite extensive efforts to treat unfavorable neuroblastoma, survival rate of children with the disease is among the lowest. Previous studies suggest that EPHA2, a member of the EPH family receptor kinases, can either promote or suppress cancer cell growth depending on cellular contexts. In this study, we investigated the biological significance of EPHA2 in neuroblastoma. It was found that tumorigenic N-type neuroblastoma cell lines expressed low levels of EPHA2, whereas hypo-tumorigenic S-type neuroblastoma cell lines expressed high levels of EPHA2 (p