title: Nuclear accumulation of mutated beta-catenin in hepatocellular carcinoma is associated with increased cell proliferation.
abstract: Inappropriate activation of the Wnt pathway resulting from beta-catenin gene alterations has recently been implicated in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). To explore the in vivo effects of mutated beta-catenin, HCC specimens from 32 patients carrying one or several tumors were screened for somatic mutations in exon 3 of the beta-catenin gene, and the expression and subcellular localization of beta-catenin was studied by immunohistochemistry. Missense mutations or interstitial deletions in beta-catenin exon 3 were detected in 12 of 35 (34%) HCC samples. After immunostaining, most tumors exhibited increased membranous and/or cytoplasmic expression of beta-catenin compared with adjacent nontumoral liver. Strong nuclear accumulation of beta-catenin was observed either focally or uniformly in 15 of 35 (43%) tumor specimens, but not in cirrhotic nodules or dysplastic liver cells in adjacent liver. Aberrant nuclear expression of beta-catenin was significantly associated with the presence of mutations in the beta-catenin gene (P < 0.005). Moreover, nuclear beta-catenin staining correlated significantly with increased Ki-67 proliferative index in tumor (P < 0.001) and seemed to be associated with poor outcome in patients with HCC. In conclusion, our data indicate that activation of the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway in HCC results mainly from somatic mutations in the beta-catenin gene and may promote tumor progression by stimulating tumor cell proliferation.
authors.affiliation: Département de Pathologie, Service de Chirurgie, Hôpital Henri Mondor - AP-HP, Créteil, Paris, France.
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Nhieu
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Renard
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cherqui
authors.forename: E S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Zafrani
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Buendia
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D002455:Cell Division / Q000235:genetics; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism*; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics*; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D019394:Ki-67 Antigen / Q000378:metabolism; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008940:Mitotic Index; D009154:Mutation; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012008:Recurrence; D015996:Survival Rate; D015534:Trans-Activators; D051176:beta Catenin
chemical_list: C495270:CTNNB1 protein, human; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D019394:Ki-67 Antigen; D015534:Trans-Activators; D051176:beta Catenin