ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND/AIMS: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), an endemic consequence of the hepatitis B virus infection, has been the leading cause of cancer death in Taiwan. The aim of this study is to investigate the expression of apoptotic proteins in the tissues of HCC, and analyze the relationship between the expression of apoptotic proteins and hepatitis B virus infection. METHODOLOGY: Twenty patients with HCC who underwent liver resection were enrolled in this study. Using Western blotting, we quantified the expression of PI-3K, Cdc-42, caspase 3, NF-kappaB, Bcl-2, Bad-p, Bax and Mcl-1 in tumor lesions and para-cancerous liver tissues. RESULTS: The expression of PI-3K, Cdc-42, caspase 3, NF-kappaB, Bcl-2, Bad-p and Bax were higher in cancer tissues with HBV infection than para-cancerous liver tissues and cancer tissues without HBV infection. The expressions of PI-3K were significantly higher in cancer tissues with the HBV infection when compared to para-cancerous liver tissues. Furthermore, PI-3K concentrations were significantly higher in stages III and IV HCC than in stages I and II HCC (1.48+/-0.25 vs. 1.07+/-0.25, p<0.01). On the contrary, the expressions of Mcl-1 in cancer tissues were lower than para-cancerous liver tissue in both HCC with HBV infection and without HBV infection. CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that different expressions of PI-3K, Cdc-42, Bcl-2 and Bad-p were noticed between HBV-infected and non-HBV infected HCC. Therefore, different transcriptional pathways may be involved in the developing of HCC between HBV-infected and non-HBV infected patients.
Subject(s)
Apoptosis/physiology , Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/metabolism , Liver Neoplasms/metabolism , Adult , Aged , Blotting, Western , Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/virology , Caspase 3/metabolism , Female , Hepatitis B/complications , Hepatitis B/metabolism , Humans , Immunoblotting , Liver Neoplasms/virology , Male , Middle Aged , NF-kappa B/metabolism , Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases/metabolism , Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2/metabolism , bcl-Associated Death Protein/metabolism , cdc42 GTP-Binding Protein/metabolismABSTRACT
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the expression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and MMP-9 by cultured human uveal melanocytes, and to test the effects of 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate on the expression of these MMPs. Gelatin zymography of conditioned culture medium from four cultures of human uveal melanocytes (two cultures of iridal melanocytes and two cultures of choroidal melanocytes) detected MMP-2 (72 kDa) and a relatively small amount of MMP-9 (92 kDa), both in the latent form. RT-PCR analysis revealed the MMP-2 mRNA and MMP-9 mRNA in cultured uveal melanocytes. Addition of 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate (10 ng/ml) to the culture medium caused an increase of production of MMP-2 and MMP-9 by cultured uveal melanocytes, and also stimulated the transcription of MMP-2 and MMP-9 of these cells.
