Expression of?-catenin in hepatic carcinoma and in human HepG2 and SMCC-7721 cells / 解放军医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To study the expression and cellular distribution of?-catenin in hepatocellular carcinoma and in HepG2 and SMCC-7721 cells.Methods Immunohistochemistry,immunocytochemistry techniques and Western blotting analysis were used to examine the expression and distribution of?-catenin in the cell membrane,cytoplasm and nucleus of bepatocellular carcinoma tissues,HepG2 and SMCC-7721 cells.Results Immunohistochemical staining showed that the?-catenin poorly,unevenly,even not distributed on the mem- brane of hepatocellular carcinoma cells.The expression of?-catenin on the membranes of low differentiated liver cancer cells was lower than that in the highly differentiated liver cancer cells,but it was strongly expressed in the cytoplasm of hepatocellular carcinoma cells,The ex- pression of?-catenin in the membranes of hepatocellular carcinoma cells was found to be reduced obviously in 18 out of 20 patients(90%).?-catenin was found to be poorly,unevenly,even not distributed in the membrane cells in 10 patients(50%).An obvious accumulation, but with poor-distribution,of?-catenin was observed in the cytoplasm of 17 cases(85%).Significant differences in the?-catenin expres- sion in both membrane and cytoplasm were found among differently differentiated stages of liver cancer cells.In 7 of 9 cases(77.8%)with highly differentiated liver cancer cells,?-catenin was continuously and evenly distributed in both the membrane and cytoplasm,while in 4 of 5(80%)cases with poorly differentiated liver cancer cells the expression of?-catenin in the membrane was found to be significantly poor and showed a uneven distribution in the cytoplasm.The?-catenin expression was positive in the cytoplasm of 5 of 6(83.3%)cases with moderatdy differentiated liver cancer cells.No expression of?-catenin was found in the membrane of HepG2 and SMCC-7721 cells,while it was highly expressed in both cytoplasm and nucleus.Western blotting showed that the?-catenin expressed in both cytoplasm and nucleus of all the liver cancer tissue,and also in HepG2 and SM(3C-7721 cells.Conclusions The expression of?-catenin was down-regulated in the membrane of hepatocellular carcinoma cells and HepG2 and SMCC-7721 cells,while?-catenin was strongly expressed in cytoplasm,and it was obviously accumulated in the nucleus.The distribution of?-catenin was related to the stage of differentiation of cancer cells.