[Expression and clinical significance of anti-apoptotic factors PED/PEA-15 and XIAP in hepatocellular carcinoma].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the expression of apoptosis arrestin PED/PEA-15 and XIAP in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and explore their relationship with clinicopathological factors of HCC.


METHODS
The mRNA expressions of PED/PEA-15 and XIAP genes were detected by RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) in resected liver tumor tissues and corresponding adjacent noncancerous tissues from 40 HCC patients and normal liver tissues from 12 patients with benign lesions. Their protein levels were detected by Western blot.


RESULTS
The mRNA expressions of PED/PEA-15 and XIAP genes and their proteins were significantly higher than those in adjacent tissues and normal tissues (0.636 +/- 0.061, 0.352 +/- 0.068, 0.179 +/- 0.036; 0.579 +/- 0.090, 0.344 +/- 0.084, 0.184 +/- 0.038) (P < 0.01). The mRNA levels of PED/PEA-15 and XIAP genes and their protein levels were significantly associated with the pathological grade and clinical stage of HCC (P < 0.05). However there was not a significant correlation with such clinicopathological features as age, gender, size of tumor, tumor load, metastasis and recurrence (P > 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
The expressions of apoptosis arrestin PED/PEA-15 and XIAP are elevated in HCC as compared with adjacent tissues and normal tissues. Thus it may serve as both a reference indicator for biological behaviors of HCC and a new target for gene therapy.
Sun
De-guang
DG
Department of General Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital, Dalian Medical University, China.
Wu
Yi-feng
YF
Gao
Zhen-ming
ZM
Liang
Rui
R
Wang
Li-ming
LM
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D051636:X-Linked Inhibitor of Apoptosis Protein / Q000378:metabolism*
D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; C092039:PEA15 protein, human; D010750:Phosphoproteins; D051636:X-Linked Inhibitor of Apoptosis Protein