ABSTRACT
Background and purpose:It has be reported that the activation of EGFR-STAT3 signal transduction pathway is involved in oncogenesis of many cancers.This study was to investigate whether EGFR-STAT3 pathway plays a role in the carcinogenesis of hepatoma in rats.Methods:Hepatoma induced by 3'Me-DAB was used as a model.EGFR,TGF?,STAT3,p-STAT3 in different stages of carcinogenesis were detected by immunohistochemistry and Western blot.In situ hybridization was applied to investigate the expression of STAT3 mRNA.The slides were assessed by Carl Zeiss Image Analysis system.The data were statistically evaluated.Results:EGFR,TGF?,STAT3 were highly expressed at the stages of liver necrosis and repair.the expression of EGFR,TGFa,STAT3 and p-STAT3 has been found in all hepatomas and the levels of EGFR and TGFa were statistically higher than that in normal tissue,similarlly the STAT3 mRNA and protein level in hepatoma was much higher than in normal tissue(P