Distribution of asialoglycoprotein receptor in human hepatocellular carcinoma

Altered expression of asialoglycoprotein (ASGP) receptors on hepatocytes has been reported during hepatic neoplasia mostly in animal models. In this study, we examined immunohistochemically the distribution of the ASGP receptor in humans with various liver diseases, including ten cases of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In livers of acute hepatitis, chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis and the non-cancerous tissues (mostly cirrhosis) adjacent to HCC, the receptor was present in its normal distribution, i.e. mostly along the sinusoidal margin and partly on the lateral surface of hepatocytes. In four of six well-differentiated HCCs, the receptor was also normally distributed on the plasma membrane; by immunoelectron microscopy, it was seen in the endoplasmic reticulum and in pits in the plasma membrane but not on bile canaliculus-like structures, suggesting that it was synthesized, transported, and integrated into the plasma membrane in a polar manner. In contrast, there was no surface expression of the ASGP receptor in the remaining six HCCs (two well-differentiated and four poorly differentiated). In two of the poorly differentiated HCCs, the receptor, although absent from the cell surface, was prominent in the endoplasmic reticulum, suggesting disturbed transport of the ASGP receptor to the cell surface. When we examined proliferative activity of HCCs by immunohistochemical labeling of DNA polymerase alpha, HCCs with high percentages (above 30%) of DNA polymerase alpha-positive cells had lost the cell-surface expression of the receptor. Thus, the expression of the ASGP receptor in human HCC appears to be closely related to differentiation and proliferative activity of the tumor cells.