ABSTRACT
Objective:To investigate the expression of TAZ and KLF5 and their clinical significance in hepatocellular carcinoma ( HCC).Methods:We freshly collected 76 samples of surgically resected HCC and matched normal tumor-adjacent tissues and detected TAZ and KLF5 expression in these samples using immunohistochemical staining.The clinical significance of TAZ and KLF5 protein expression were analysed.Results:The protein expression of TAZ and KLF5 in HCC tissues was significantly higher than those in matched normal tumor-adjacent tissues ( P=0.001;P=0.035 ).Clinicopathological analysis suggested that TAZ and KLF5 protein expression were associated with histopathological differentiation ( P=0.007;P=0.047 ) and TNM stage ( P=0.009;P=0.040).TAZ was positively correlated with KLF5 protein in HCC tissues (r=0.651,P=0.003).Conclusion:The high-expression of TAZ and KLF5 are correlated with poor clinicopathological characteristics,and TAZ is positively associated with KLF5 in HCC tissues, suggesting that TAZ may promote tumor progression through inhibition of KLF5 protein degradation in HCC.