Molecular evaluation of apoptotic versus antiapoptotic angiogenic markers in hepatocellular carcinoma
Mohamed T Abdel Aziz1, Dawlat El-Miligy, Mona A Amin
1Unit of Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.
Objective:
To assess the role of HO-1 in HCC progression and to study the expression of apoptotic factors represented by TNF-alpha, and Fas-L versus antiapoptotic and angiogenic factors represented by HO-1, TGF-beta, HGF, and VEGF in HCC compared to non cancerous cirrhotic liver.
Design And Methods:
Liver biopsies were taken from twelve patients with grade II HCC confined to the liver and twelve patients with non cancerous liver cirrhosis (served as control). RT-PCR of previous genes was evaluated.
Results:
HO-1, VEGF, HGF, and TNF-alpha genes were significantly increased (P<0.05) in HCC compared to control. Fas-L showed a significant decrease (P<0.05) in HCC compared to control. TGF-beta was higher in HCC than control but the difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05). HGF showed significant positive correlation with HO-1 (r=0.8217, P=0.001).
Conclusion:
HCC is associated with increased expression of VEGF, HGF, and TGF-beta, and with suppression of Fas-L. In addition, HO-1 is highly significantly expressed in HCC. The significant positive correlation between HO-1 and HGF was first reported in Egyptian human liver biopsies, and this suggests that it may play a role in the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma.
