title: Identification of serum CCL15 in hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Early serum detection is of critical importance to improve the therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), one of the most deadly cancers. Hepatitis infection is a leading cause of HCC.
  
  
  METHODS
  In the present study, we collected total serum samples with informed consent from 80 HCC patients with HBV (+)/cirrhosis (+), 80 patients with benign diseases (50 liver cirrhosis patients and 30 HBV-infected patients) and 60 healthy controls. Analysis was by using surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionisation-time-of-flight mass spectroscopy (SELDI-TOF-MS) to find new serum markers of HCC. SELDI peaks were isolated by SDS-PAGE, identified by LC-MS/MS and validated by immunohistochemistry (IHC) in liver tissues. Migration and invasion assay were performed to test the ability of cell migration and invasion in vitro.
  
  
  RESULTS
  SELDI-TOF-MS revealed a band at 7777 M/Z in the serum samples from HCC patients but not from healthy controls or patients with benign diseases. The protein (7777.27 M/Z) in the proteomic signature was identified as C-C motif chemokine 15 (CCL15) by peptide mass fingerprinting. A significant increase in serum CCL15 was detected in HCC patients. Functional analysis showed that HCC cell expressed CCL15, which in turn promoted HCC cell migration and invasion.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CCL15 may be a specific proteomic biomarker of HCC, which has an important role in tumorigenesis and tumour invasion.
authors: Clinical laboratory, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin 300060, China.
authors: Y
authors: Y
authors: Li
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Wu
authors: W
authors: W
authors: Zhang
authors: N
authors: N
authors: Zhang
authors: H
authors: H
authors: Guo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015415:Biomarkers; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000097:blood*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D019742:Chemokines, CC / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000097:blood*; D019402:Macrophage Inflammatory Proteins / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; C108814:CCL15 protein, human; D019742:Chemokines, CC; D019402:Macrophage Inflammatory Proteins