Expression of EphB4 in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues and its clinical significance / 重庆医学

ABSTRACT

Objective To study the expression of Ephrin‐B4 receptor (EphB4) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and its clinical significance ,and to analyze the effect of EphB4 on the proliferation of HCC cells .Methods The expression level of EphB4 in HCC tissues and matched paracancerous liver tissues of 60 cases of HCC patients was assessed by reverse transcriptase‐polymer‐ase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) and immunohistochemistry .The correlation between the expression of EphB4 in HCC tissues and clin‐ical pathologic parameters was analyzed by chi‐square test .Univariate survival analysis was carried out by Kaplan‐Meier Log‐rank test .The effect of EphB4 on the viability of HCC cells was furtherly analyzed by MTS .Results The results of RT‐PCR showed that the mRNA level of EphB4 in HCC tissues (1 .39 ± 0 .80) was significantly higher than in matched paracancerous liver tissues (0 .56 ± 0 .33) ,the difference was statistically significant (P< 0 .01) .Data from immunohistochemistry showed that the positive rates of EphB4 protein in HCC tissues and matched paracancerous liver tissues were 81 .7% and 23 .3% ,respectively .Moreover ,the expression of EphB4 in HCC tissues was relevant to AFP level ,tumor size and TNM stage(P<0 .05) .The three‐year survival rate of HCC patients with positive expression of EphB4 protein was 22 .5% ,and that of HCC patients with negative expression of EphB4 protein was 54 .5% ,the difference was statistically significant (P<0 .05) .Overexpression of EphB4 significantly enhanced the ability of hepatocellular carcinoma cell proliferation (P<0 .05) .Conclusion EphB4 expression was significantly up‐regulated in HCC ,which was associated with HCC progression and prognosis ,and EphB4 could promote the proliferation of HCC cells ,which could be used as a marker of HCC progression .