Expression of genes related to Sonic Hedgehog signaling in human hepatocellular carcinomas / 北京大学学报(医学版)

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the expression status of Sonic Hedgehog signaling genes and molecules in human hepatocellular carcinomas(HCC),and to explore the relationship between these genes and clinical prognosis.Methods:HCC tissue and adjacent normal tissue from 29 HCC patients were assayed for the expression of hedgehog signaling genes by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction chain reaction(RT-PCR) techniques and for the expression of hedgehog signaling molecules by immunohistochemistry.The expressions of Shh,Ptch,Smoh,Gli-1 mRNA were assayed as well as Shh,Ptch proteins in 29 cases of HCC and in 29 liver tissues adjacent to the tumor.Results:Expression of Shh mRNA was detectable in about 51% of HCCs examined.Consistent with this,hedgehog target genes Ptch,Smoh and Gli-1 mRNA were expressed in over 68%,48% and 62% of the tumors,respectively,and the expressions of Shh and Ptch proteins in HCC tumor tissues correlated with those of Shh and Ptch mRNA in tumor tissues(P=0.041 and P=0.035).This suggested that the hedgehog pathway was frequently activated in HCCs.The simultaneous expression of Gli-1 in HCC and liver tissues adjacent to the tumor had significantly relationship with poor prognosis.Conclusion:Hedgehog signaling activation is an important event for development of human HCCs.It also suggests that markers for hedgehog signaling activation may be useful for the determination of prognosis.