The Role Of Chitinase3-like1in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Objective：The aim of the present study is to investigate the expression of CHI3L1inhuman HCC cell lines and clinical HCC specimens, and its association with expressionsof phosphorylated–Akt (p-Akt), E-cadherin and prognostic significance.Methods：The protein level of CHI3L1in HCC cell lines was evaluated by Western blot.The mRNA and protein levels of CHI3L1in19self-paired HCC specimens wereassessed by RT-PCR and Western blot assays. The clinical and prognostic significanceof CHI3L1in70cases of HCC patients was determined by immunohistochemistry. Inaddition, expressions of p-Akt and E-cadherin were also assessed.Results：The protein level of CHI3L1paralleled with increased malignant potential ofHCC cell lines (P<0.05). The mRNA and protein levels of CHI3L1in HCC tissues wereup-regulated compared with those in adjacent peritumoral tissues, and further increasedin tumors with metastasis (P<0.05). Clinicopathological analysis showed that positiveCHI3L1expression was significantly associated with larger tumor size, capsularinvasion, advanced TNM stages and status of metastasis (P=0.035,0.003,0.023and0.003, respectively). Furthermore, CHI3L1expression was positively correlated withhigh level of p-Akt (r=0.293, P=0.014), but inversely correlated with expression ofE-cadherin (r=-0.267, P=0.026). Additionally, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showedthat HCC patients with positive CHI3L1expression had a worse overall survival anddisease-free survival compared with those with negative CHI3L1expression (P<0.001,respectively). Multivariate analysis identified CHI3L1as an independent prognosticpredictor for overall survival and disease-free survival of HCC patients (P=0.044and0.031, respectively).Conclusions：CHI3L1plays an essential role in HCC malignancies and may be servedas a valuable prognostic biomarker for HCC patients.