The Expression Of PTEN, TTG And ICAM-1 Genes In Hepatocellular Carcinoma

OBJECTIVE To explore the biological and clinical significances of PTEN, tTG and ICAM-1 genes in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), through testing their expression at mRNA level and protein level on the samples from HCC patients as well as from tree shrew HCC induced by aflatoxin B1.METHODS Reverse transcription polymerase chain reactions (RT-PCR) and immunohistochemical staining were employed to test the mRNA and protein expression of PTEN, tTG and ICAM-1 genes in HCC tissues and the corresponding para-carcinoma tissues (para-HCC) from 57 cases of HCC patients and in normal liver tissues from 18 cases of non-tumor patients, as well as in tree shrew HCC and para-HCC tissues from 22 animals induced by aflatoxin B1. The mRNA expression levels of these genes were analyzed by comparing them with the mRNA level of housekeeping gene GAPDH orβ-actin. The protein expression levels of these genes were analyzed by calculating both the staining positive rate and staining score. Meanwhile, the relationship among the expression levels of these genes and the possible clinical significances were analyzed.RESULTS 1. The expressions of PTEN mRNA in human HCC, para-HCC and normal liver tissues were 0.24士0.09, 0.34士0.11 and 0.47士0.06 respectively, with the statistically significant differences whenever HCC vs para-HCC tissue, HCC vs normal liver tissues, or para-HCC vs normal liver tissues were compared (all were p<0.001). The expression of PTEN mRNA in tree shrew HCC (0.18士0.07) were also significantly lower than that in para-HCC tissues (0.31士0.19, p<0.01). Immunohistochemical staining showed...