Expression Of Kindlin-1 In Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma And Its Clinical Significance

【Objective】(1) This study aimed to determine the protein and m RNA expression of Kindlin-1 in hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) patients after surgical resection.(2) This study is to analysis the expression of Kindlin-1 in HCC patients after surgical resection and its association with the clinicopathological parameters and prognostic value.【Methods】(1) Sixty-eight cases of HCC tumor and paracarcinomatous tissues, and Twenty-two cases of snap-frozen tumor and paired adjacent liver tissues were collected.(2) Snap-frozen tumor and paired adjacent liver tissues of 22 patients were detected by quantitative real-time PCR(q RT-PCR) and Western blotting.(3) The clinical and prognostic significance of Kindlin-1 in 68 cases of HCC was determined by immunohistochemistry.【Results】(1) Kindlin-1 was mainly expressed in the cytoplasm of liver cancer cell. The positive expression rate of Kindlin-1 in HCC tissues was54.4%(37/68),which appeared at a high level compared to adjacent tissues10.3%(7/68)( P<0.05).(2) Positive Kindlin-1 expression was significantly correlated with tumor size, tumor capsula, status of metastasis, and tumor-node-metastasis(TNM) stage(P =0.002;0.028;0.028;0.041), while not with sex, age, Edmondson grade, serum AFP, HBs Ag status, cirrhosis, Child-Pugh grade, and alcoholism.(3)To determine Kindlin-1 expression at the protein level, western blotting was performed on tumor samples and found that Kindlin-1 protein levels was markedly higher in HCC tissues than that in adjacent non-tumor tissues(1.15±0.43 and 0.86±0.29; P < 0.05).(4) The m RNA level of Kindlin-1 was determined by q RT-PCR and the median Kindlin-1 m RNA expression was significantly increased in HCC tumor tissues compared with adjacent non-tumortissues(3.98±1.57 vs 2.78±1.19; P < 0.05).(5) Survival analysis showed that positive Kindlin-1 expression was associated with unfavorable survival. Multivariate analysis identified Kindlin-1 as an independent prognostic predictor for survival in HCC patients.【Conclusion】 Kindlin-1 is abnormally expressed in HCC tissues and might serve as an independent prognostic predictor for HCC patients after surgical resection.