Overexpression of caveolin-1 in hepatocellular carcinoma with metastasis and worse prognosis: correlation with vascular endothelial growth factor, microvessel density and unpaired artery.
Caveolin-1 is the major structural protein in caveolae, implicated in oncogenesis and angiogenesis. The connections between caveolin-1 and progression and angiogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is still not clear. Thus we investigated the relationship of caveolin-1 expression, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression, microvessel density (MVD), and unpaired artery (UA) with the clinicopathologic features of patients with HCC. Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections of HCC from 75 patients who had undergone an initial hepatectomy were stained immunohistochemically with specific antibodies against caveolin-1, VEGF, CD34 and alpha-SMA. The levels of caveolin-1, VEGF, MVD and UA were correlated with the clinicopathologic variables, and tissue sections were also analyzed by dual-label immunofluorescence. We found that increased expression of caveolin-1 was associated with metastasis and with a worse prognosis of HCC. Caveolin-1 expression correlates positively with VEGF, MVD and UA. These results suggest that caveolin-1 may play an important role in the progression of HCC and angiogenesis.
Institute of Hepatobiliary Surgery & Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, People's Republic of China.
Zhi-Bo
ZB
Zhang
Lei
L
Cai
Shu-Guo
SG
Zheng
Yan
Y
Xiong
Jia-Hong
JH
Dong
D000199:Actins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D018952:Antigens, CD34 / Q000096:biosynthesis; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D051242:Caveolin 1 / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D005260:Female; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D055806:Microvessels / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic / Q000473:pathology*; D011379:Prognosis; D015854:Up-Regulation; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000096:biosynthesis
D000199:Actins; D018952:Antigens, CD34; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D051242:Caveolin 1; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A