N-Acetylglucosaminyltransferase V as a possible aid for the evaluation of tumor invasiveness in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.
BACKGROUND
A close relationship has been shown to exist between the metastatic potential and beta1-6 branched oligosaccharides in human and rodent cells. N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase V (GnT-V) catalyzes this process. Although this phenomenon has been reported, little is known about the clinical usefulness of the determination of GnT-V in the evaluations of tumor invasiveness in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In this study, we measured the GnT-V activity in serum of patients with HCC, together with its activity and gene expression in HCC tissues, and elucidated the clinical usefulness of the GnT-V level in evaluating tumor invasiveness.


METHODS
Seventy-three serum samples from 38 patients with HCC, 11 with chronic hepatitis, eight with hepatic cirrhosis and 16 healthy controls were used. Twenty-one liver tissues were obtained by surgical resection from 17 patients with HCC, three with colorectal cancers and one with gallbladder cancer metastatic to the liver. The GnT-V activity was determined by using high performance liquid chromatography. The GnT-V mRNA was quantified by using competitive RT-PCR.


RESULTS
There were statistically significant correlations between GnT-V activity in sera of HCC, and GnT-V activity and GnT-V mRNA expression in tumor tissue. The mean GnT-V activity in the sera of patients with HCC increased in accordance with the degree of tumor invasion. The HCC group with intrahepatic and extrahepatic metastases showed the highest serum GnT-V-value.


CONCLUSIONS
The present study demonstrated that there was a close association between tumor invasiveness and GnT-V activity in sera, and that the measurement of GnT-V may improve prognostic estimates and therapeutic outcomes for patients with HCC.
Yanagi
M
M
Division of Hepatobiliary Oncology, Department of Molecular Genetics, Course for Molecular and Cellular Medicine, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata University, Niigata, Japan.
Aoyagi
Y
Y
Suda
T
T
Mita
Y
Y
Asakura
H
H
D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000737:chemistry / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017351:N-Acetylglucosaminyltransferases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis
D012333:RNA, Messenger; D017351:N-Acetylglucosaminyltransferases; C052254:alpha-1,6-mannosylglycoprotein beta 1,6-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase