Expression Of WFDC1 Gene In Primary Hepatocellular Carcinoma And Its Clinical Significance

0bjective To explore the expression of WFDC1 gene in hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) and its clinical significance.Methods The mRNA expression of WFDC1 were detected by fluorescent quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction(FQ-RT-PCR) for 30 HCC tissues, and the corresponding distal normal liver tissue were as the control group.The correlation between the expression of WFDC1 gene and the major clinical pathological characteristics of HCC were analyzed.Results The expression level of WFDC1 mRNA in HCC tissues(0.050±0.026) was markedly 1ower than that of the corresponding distal normal liver tissue (0.113±0.040) (P<0.05).The expression of WFDC1 mRNA in HCC was closely correlated with the HBsAg. The expression level of WFDC1 mRNA was lower in HCC with HBsAg(0.021±0.014)than that of HCC without HBsAg (0.082±0.025)(P<0.05). There was no correlation for WFDC1 gene expression and tumor size or stage (P>0.05).Conclusion The expression level of WFDC1 mRNA in HCC was markedly lower than that in the corresponding distal normal liver tissue.WFDC1 gene may be a new potential tumour suppressor gene for HCC. Key words Hepatocellular carcinom(aHCC);WFDC1;fluorescent quantitation PCR;tumor suppressor gene Objective To investigate the expression and significance ofWFDC1/PS20 protein in HCC and its relationship with tumor microvessel density(MVD). The relationship of WFDC1/PS20 protein expression in HCC tissue with the clinical pathological characteristics was analyzed.It may be in favour of exploring the mechanism of HCC initiation or progression,and questing a new target of gene therapy in HCC.Methods WFDC1/PS20 protein expression level in 30 HCC tissues and its corresponding normal liver tissues were detected with immunohistochemistry (IHC),and CD31 was as a marker to count MVD. SPSS13.0 statistical software was applied to data analysis. A p-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The correlation of WFDC1/PS20 protein and MVD expression in HCC and the major clinical pathological characteristics would be illustrated.Results 1. WFDC1/PS20 protein expression mainly in cytoplasm of tumor cells and normal liver cells,respectively. The positive expression rate of WFDC1/PS20 protein in HCC was 33.33℅(10/30), but the positive expression rate of WFDC1/PS20 protein in normal liver tissues was 63.33℅(19/30).The expression leve1 of WFDC1/PS20 protein was significantly lower in HCC than that in normal liver tissue (P<0.05).2. The expression level of WFDC1/PS20 protein was correlated with HBsAg. The expression level of WFDC1/PS20 was lower in HBsAg positiveg HCC than that of HBsAg negative HCC (P<0.05),but there was no relationship with tumor size,AFP,TNM stage etc(P>0.05).3. Specific staining of capillary-like vessels by anti-CD31 monoclonal antibody was mainly shown in tumor tissues of HCC.The count of MVD was significantly different between the WFDC1/PS20 positive group and the WFDC1/PS20 negative group in HCC(P< 0.05). Furthermore, MVD was significantly associated with the presence of tumor size(P< 0.05),and tumor TNM stages(P< 0.05).Conclusion The WFDC1/PS20 protein is down-regulated in HCC tissues. It indicates that WFDC1/PS20 protein may have significant effects on HCC initiation .However,the correlation between expression of WFDC1/PS20 protein and MVD determines the effects of ps20 on angiogenesis in HCC.In all,WFDC1 may be not a classical tumor suppressor gene.