Objective: To investigate the expression of Glypican-3 gene in (α-fetoprotein (AFP)-negative hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and clarify whether Glypican-3 expression is a useful parameter for the diagnosis of h...Objective: To investigate the expression of Glypican-3 gene in (α-fetoprotein (AFP)-negative hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and clarify whether Glypican-3 expression is a useful parameter for the diagnosis of hepatocelhllar carcinoma (HCC), especially for AFP-negative ones. Methods: Forty-one specimens of AFP-negative hepatocellular carcinoma and para-carcimoma tissue were studied for the expression of Glypican-3 by Northern blot. The expression of Glypican-3 protein was detected immunohistochemically with specific polyclonal antibody. Results: Northern blot analysis indicated that the expression of Glypican-3 mRNA was intensively detected in 30 of 41 AFP-negative HCC (73.17%). In contrast, Glypican-3 mRNA was only weakly detected in 4 of the surrounding non-tumor liver tissues. There was significant difference in the Glypican-3 mRNA expression in large tumors (〉5 cm) (79.31%) and in small tumors (〈5 cm) (41.67%) (P〈0.01). Gypican-3 mRNA was more frequently overexpressed in poorly differentiated HCC than in well differentiated ones (76.47% vs. 42.86%, P〈0.05). The Glypican-3 expression was not correlated with age. sex. ttbsAg seropositivity, fibroeapsule, portal venous embolus and intrahepatic metastasis. The overexpression of Glypican-3 protein in HCC was targeted in tumor cells, not in bile duct cells and other interstitial cells. Conclusion: Glypican-3 was specially overexpressed in AFP-negative HCC, and its expression was closely correlated with the tumor size and tumor grade. Glypican-3 gene may play important roles in hepatocareinogenesis, and can be used as a new biochemical marker of HCC, especially for AFP-negative HCC.展开更多
基金This work was supported in part by grants from the State Key Basic Research Program (No.39825114) and the NationalNatural Science Foundation of China (No.39770379).
文摘Objective: To investigate the expression of Glypican-3 gene in (α-fetoprotein (AFP)-negative hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and clarify whether Glypican-3 expression is a useful parameter for the diagnosis of hepatocelhllar carcinoma (HCC), especially for AFP-negative ones. Methods: Forty-one specimens of AFP-negative hepatocellular carcinoma and para-carcimoma tissue were studied for the expression of Glypican-3 by Northern blot. The expression of Glypican-3 protein was detected immunohistochemically with specific polyclonal antibody. Results: Northern blot analysis indicated that the expression of Glypican-3 mRNA was intensively detected in 30 of 41 AFP-negative HCC (73.17%). In contrast, Glypican-3 mRNA was only weakly detected in 4 of the surrounding non-tumor liver tissues. There was significant difference in the Glypican-3 mRNA expression in large tumors (〉5 cm) (79.31%) and in small tumors (〈5 cm) (41.67%) (P〈0.01). Gypican-3 mRNA was more frequently overexpressed in poorly differentiated HCC than in well differentiated ones (76.47% vs. 42.86%, P〈0.05). The Glypican-3 expression was not correlated with age. sex. ttbsAg seropositivity, fibroeapsule, portal venous embolus and intrahepatic metastasis. The overexpression of Glypican-3 protein in HCC was targeted in tumor cells, not in bile duct cells and other interstitial cells. Conclusion: Glypican-3 was specially overexpressed in AFP-negative HCC, and its expression was closely correlated with the tumor size and tumor grade. Glypican-3 gene may play important roles in hepatocareinogenesis, and can be used as a new biochemical marker of HCC, especially for AFP-negative HCC.