Allele loss and down-regulation of heparanase gene are associated with the progression and poor prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma |
| |
Authors: | Guo-Liang Huang Bin-Kui Li Mei-Yin Zhang Rong-Rong Wei Yun-Fei Yuan Ming Shi Xiao-Qian Chen Long Huang Hui-Zhong Zhang Wanqing Liu Bi-Jun Huang Honghua Li Xiao-Feng Zheng Xian-Rong Luo Hui-Yun Wang |
| |
Institution: | National Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. |
| |
Abstract: | ObjectivesThe role of heparanase (HPSE) gene in cancers including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is currently controversial. This study was aimed at investigating the impact of genetic alteration and expression change of HPSE on the progression and prognosis of HCC.MethodsThe HPSE gene was studied in three different aspects: (1) loss of heterozygosity (LOH) by a custom SNP microarray and DNA copy number by real-time PCR; (2) mRNA level by qRT-PCR; and (3) protein expression by immunohistochemistry. The clinical significances of allele loss and expression change of HPSE were analyzed.ResultsMicroarray analysis showed that the average LOH frequency for 10 SNPs located within HPSE gene was 31.6%, three of which were significantly correlated with tumor grade, serum HBV-DNA level, and AFP concentration. In agreement with SNP LOH data, DNA copy number loss of HPSE was observed in 38.74% (43/111) of HCC cases. HPSE mRNA level was notably reduced in 74.1% (83/112) of tumor tissues compared with non-tumor liver tissues, which was significantly associated with DNA copy number loss, increased tumor size, and post-operative metastasis. HPSE protein level was also remarkably reduced in 66.3% (53/80) of tumor tissues, which was correlated with tumor grade. Patients with lower expression level of HPSE mRNA or protein had a significantly lower survival rate than those with higher expression. Cox regression analysis suggested that HPSE protein was an independent predictor of overall survival in HCC patients.ConclusionsThe results in this study demonstrate that genetic alteration and reduction of HPSE expression are associated with tumor progression and poor prognosis of HCCs, suggesting that HPSE behaves like a tumor suppressor gene and is a potential prognostic marker for HCC patients. |
| |
Keywords: | |
本文献已被 PubMed 等数据库收录! |
|