title: The expression and clinical significance of Omi/Htra2 in hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate Omi/HtrA2 expression and its clinical significance in hepatocellular carcinoma.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyzed Omi/HtrA2 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma, paracancerous tissues and normal hepatic tissues by immunohistochemistry, RT-PCR and Western blot. Hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) expression was also detected in hepatocellular carcinoma samples by immunohistochemistry. Meanwhile, we retrospectively analyzed the relationship between Omi/HtrA2 expression and the survival times of the patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found that Omi/HtrA2 overexpressed in hepatocellular carcinoma and was correlated with hepatocellular carcinoma differentiation, tumor size, portal vein invasion, clinical stage and lymph node metastasis. We also observed a significant inverse correlation between the expression of Omi,/HtrA2 and HIF-1α in hepatocellular carcinoma. The Kaplan-Meier estimates showed that patients who were Omi/HtrA2 positive had much longer survival times than those who were Omi/HtrA2 negative. Both univariate and multivariate analysis using the Cox regression model indicated that Omi/HtrA2 expression was a significant factor for prognosis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Hepatocellular carcinoma cells may need Omi/HtrA2 expression for apoptosis and Omi/HtrA2 might be an important prognostic marker for primary hepatocellular carcinoma.
authors.affiliation: Hepatobiliary Surgery, Qilu Hospital, ShanDong University, Jinan, China.
authors.forename: Zongquan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Xiaoping
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Enyu
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yunguang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Changhai
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Niu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D017209:Apoptosis; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D000074923:High-Temperature Requirement A Serine Peptidase 2; D006801:Humans; D051795:Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit / Q000032:analysis; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000502:physiology; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases / Q000032:analysis* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: C497442:HIF1A protein, human; D051795:Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases; C000615914:HTRA2 protein, human; D000074923:High-Temperature Requirement A Serine Peptidase 2