Proteomic analysis of differentially expressed proteins in hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma tissues.
BACKGROUND
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a major cause of cancer death in China, is preceded by chronic hepatitis and liver cirrhosis (LC). Although hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been regarded as a clear etiology of human hepatocarcinogenesis, the mechanism is still needs to be further clarified. In this study, we used a proteomic approach to identify the differential expression protein profiles between HCC and the adjacent non-tumorous liver tissues.


METHODS
Eighteen cases of HBV-related HCC including 12 cases of LC-developed HCC and 6 cases of chronic hepatitis B (CHB)-developed HCC were analyzed by two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) combined with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS), and the results were compared to those of paired adjacent non-tumorous liver tissues.


RESULTS
A total of 17 differentially expressed proteins with diverse biological functions were identified. Among these, 10 proteins were up-regulated, whereas the other 7 proteins were down-regulated in cancerous tissues. Two proteins, c-Jun N-terminal kinase 2 and ADP/ATP carrier protein were found to be up-regulated only in CHB-developed HCC tissues. Insulin-like growth factor binding protein 2 and Rho-GTPase-activating protein 4 were down-regulated in LC-developed and CHB-developed HCC tissues, respectively. Although 11 out of these 17 proteins have been already described by previous studies, or are already known to be involved in hepatocarcinogenesis, this study revealed 6 new proteins differentially expressed in HBV-related HCC.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings elucidate that there are common features between CHB-developed HCC and LC-developed HCC. The identified proteins are valuable for studying the hepatocarcinogenesis, and may be potential diagnostic markers or therapeutic targets for HBV-related HCC.
Li
Ning
N
Department of Blood transfusion, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, PR China. nxli@hotmail.com
Long
Yunzhu
Y
Fan
Xuegong
X
Liu
Hongbo
H
Li
Cui
C
Chen
Lizhang
L
Wang
Zhiming
Z
D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000821:virology*; D015536:Down-Regulation; D015180:Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000150:complications* / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000150:complications; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000821:virology*; D040901:Proteomics; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization; D015854:Up-Regulation