Expression And Clinical Significance Of Cathepsin S In Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Objective To study the expression of Cathepsin S (Cat S) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC),adjacent tissues of HCC and normal liver tissues.; to detect the relationship between expression of Cat S and its clinical pathologic features in HCC.Methods We randomly collected 63 cases of HCC tissue and adjacent tissues of HCC which were operated in the Surgery Department of No.1 Hospital of Guangxi Medical University during January 2005 to February 2008. The diagnosis was confirmed by pathologic examination and identified. The patients were not received any treatment before operation. Meanwhile, eleven cases of liver trauma were as a normal control. Immunohistochemical study for Cat S was performed on these samples.Results Immunohistochemistry showed expression of Cat S in the HCC(34/63) and adjacent tissue of HCC (19/63) cases. The expression level of the Cat S was obviously higher in HCC tissue than in the adjacent tissues of HCC. The expression of Cat S in HCC was evidently correlated with portal vein tumor thrombus,extrahepatic metastasis, the differentiation of tumor, but not correlated with the recurrence,the clinical stage,the level of the serum alpha-fetoprotein(AFP),diameter of the tumor, and liver cirrhosis. The expression of Cat S in normal liver tissue is negative。Conclusion The high expression of Cat S protein in HCC tissue involves in the occurrence and development of HCC. The expression of Cat S in HCC was evidently correlated with portal vein tumor thrombus,extrahepatic metastasis,the differentiation of tumor ,which suggest Cat S could also be considered as a novel marker for predicting invasion and matastasis of HCC. Objective To investigate the expression of Cat S protein in endothelial cell(EC) of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC),adjacent tissues of HCC and normal liver tissues.; to analyze its relationship with angiogenesis of HCC.Methods We randomly collected 63 cases of HCC species and adjacent tissues of HCC which were operated in the Surgery Department of No.1 Hospital of Guangxi Medical University during January 2005 to February 2008. The diagnosis was confirmed by pathologic examination and identified. The patients were not received any treatment before operation. Meanwhile, eleven cases of liver trauma were as a normal control. The types of cells in which Cat S and platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule ( CD31 ) overexpressed were examined by Dual-Labeled Immunofluorescence.Results Dual-Labeled Immunofluorescence staining for Cat S and CD31 revealed expression of Cat S in the CD31-positive endothelial cells(ECs)as well as in CD31-negative tumor cells. Conclusion Immunofluorescent staining confirmed that Cat S co-localization with CD31 in endothelial cells, indicating that Cat S may play an important role in angiogenesis of HCC. It's the first time in this experiment confirmed that Cat S was overexpressed in endothelial cells of HCC, which may provide a new path in the treatment of HCC.