title: Evaluation of PRL-3 expression, and its correlation with angiogenesis and invasion in hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: Protein phosphatase of regenerating liver 3 (PRL-3) is a metastasis-associated phosphatase. Studies have shown that its overexpression increases cell motility and invasiveness. In this study, we aimed to investigate the expression of PRL-3 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tumor tissues and determine its correlations with matrix metalloproteinases (MMP-2, MMP-9) and E-cadherin in HCC. Paired cancerous and non-cancerous tissues were freshly collected from 42 primary HCC patients. PRL-3 expression at both mRNA and protein level was evaluated by real-time PCR, Western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry. The microvessel density (MVD) in HCC was detected with immunohistochemistry. The mRNA expression of MMP-2, MMP-9 and E-cadherin was analyzed by real-time PCR in search of correlations with PRL-3. We found that PRL-3 was significantly up-regulated in the HCC tumor tissues compared with corresponding noncancerous liver tissues (0.664+/-0.053 vs. 0.024+/-0.003, P<0.001). The mRNA level of PRL-3 in tissues was correlated with serum alpha-fetoprotein level, vascular invasion and metastasis (P<0.001). PRL-3 expression was closely related to MVD. Furthermore, we found a significant correlation between PRL-3 mRNA expression and MMP-2, MMP-9 and E-cadherin. Our results demonstrated that PRL-3 is up-regulated in HCC. It is strongly suggested that PRL-3 plays a key role in the angiogenesis and invasion of HCC. MMP-2, MMP-9 and E-cadherin might be involved in PRL-3 functions in HCC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology and Oncology, Provincial Hospital, Affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan, PR China.
authors.forename: Wen-Bo
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Ling-Yan
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D015820:Cadherins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D020778:Matrix Metalloproteinase 2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020780:Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008833:Microcirculation; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic; D017027:Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D013223:Statistics as Topic
chemical_list: D015820:Cadherins; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; C484730:PTP4A3 protein, human; D017027:Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases; D020778:Matrix Metalloproteinase 2; D020780:Matrix Metalloproteinase 9