title: Down-regulation of formin-like 2 predicts poor prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: The formin-like 2 protein is a member of the diaphanous-related formin family that controls actin-dependent processes such as cell motility and invasion. This study aimed at clarifying formin-like 2 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma and its correlation with clinicopathologic features and also exploring the effects of formin-like 2 transfection on cell motility and invasion in vitro. Real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting showed that expression of formin-like 2 was lower in 4 hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines than those in normal hepatic epithelial cells (P < .05). Surgical hepatocellular carcinoma samples were taken from patients who had been followed for 5 years. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed down-expression of formin-like 2 in 86 (71.7%) of 120 cases. The expression of formin-like 2 was significantly lower in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues than in adjacent cirrhotic or normal livers (P < .01). Statistical analysis showed that formin-like 2 expression correlated positively with tumor differentiation (P = .046) and vascular invasion (P = .008). Patients whose tumors had lower formin-like 2 expression had shorter overall survival times (P = .040). Multivariate analysis suggested that formin-like 2 expression was a significant and independent prognostic indicator (P = .041). Transient transfection of formin-like 2 suppressed motility and invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma cells in vitro. Our results suggest that formin-like 2 is a valuable marker for the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma. Down-regulation is associated with poor overall survival.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, Guangdong province, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.forename: Yuanfeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Jianmei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xianzheng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Xiaojing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yanqing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ding
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002465:Cell Movement; D018450:Disease Progression; D015536:Down-Regulation; D005260:Female; D000080865:Formins; D056945:Hep G2 Cells; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000378:metabolism; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness / Q000473:pathology; D011379:Prognosis; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C476208:FMNL2 protein, human; D000080865:Formins; D011506:Proteins