Expression of the chemokine receptor CXCR4 in human hepatocellular carcinoma and its role in portal vein tumor thrombus.
BACKGROUND
This study was conducted to investigate the expression of CXCR4 in portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT) tissue and its possible role in the invasiveness of tumor thrombus cells.


METHODS
We detected differential expression of CXCR4 between PVTT and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by an immunohistochemical assay. Lentivirus-mediated RNA interference and a migration assay were performed on human primary cells derived from PVTT to study the impact of CXCR4 on the invasiveness of HCC.


RESULTS
The expression of CXCR4 in tumor thrombus tissue was higher than that in HCC tissue. The invasion ratio of PVTT cells was significantly decreased (P < 0.05) after being infected with a CXCR4-targeting siRNA lentivirus, indicating that downregulation of CXCR4 by lentivirus-mediated RNA interference significantly impaired the invasive potential of PVTT.


CONCLUSIONS
These results indicate that CXCR4 is an effective curative target for hepatocellular carcinomas with PVTT.
Department of Oncological Comprehensive Treatment, Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200438, China.
Nan
N
Li
Weixing
W
Guo
Jie
J
Shi
Jie
J
Xue
Huasheng
H
Hu
Dong
D
Xie
Mengchao
M
Wu
Shuqun
S
Cheng
D000368:Aged; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness / Q000473:pathology; D009360:Neoplastic Cells, Circulating / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D011169:Portal Vein / Q000473:pathology*; D019718:Receptors, CXCR4 / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D013927:Thrombosis / Q000473:pathology
C527276:CXCR4 protein, human; D019718:Receptors, CXCR4