Expression And Its Correlation Of GRP78 And COX-2 In Hepatocellular Carcinoma Tissues

Objetive: To investigate the expression of glucose-regulated protein78(GRP78)and Cyclooxygenase-2(COX-2)in primary hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)tissues,as well as their clinical significance.Methods:The pathologic specimens of 144 patients with primary hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)confirmed by pathology in our hospital from 2001 to 2007 were made into tissue microarray,using immunohistochemical method to detect the expression of GRP78 and COX-2 in it.Results: 1.The positive rate of GRP78 was 47.22% and the positive rate of COX-2 was 56.94% in 144 cases of HCC tissues.2.GRP78 was significantly correlated with the history of hepatitis B virus infection and alanine aminotransferase(ALT)(P <0.05),but there was no significant correlation with sex,age,history of liver cirrhosis,alpha-fetoprotein(AFP),aspartate aminotransferase(AST),alkaline phosphatase(ALP),tumor size,staging and differentiation(P> 0.05).The positive expression rate of GRP78 in the positive antigen of hepatitis B virus was 51.23%.At the sametime,the positive rate of GRP78 in patients with normal alanine aminotransferase(ALT)was 59.09%.3.The expression of COX-2 was significantly correlated with the degree of differentiation of HCC(P <0.025),while with gender,age,history of liver cirrhosis,history of hepatitis B virus infection,AFP,AST,ALT,ALP,tumor size no significant correlation(P > 0.05);The positive rates of well-differentiated,moderately differentiated and poorly differentiated COX-2 were 38.63%,59.01% and 74.35%,respectively.(4)The correlation analysis showed that there was a positive correlation between COX-2 and GRP78 protein expression in HCC(r = 0.204 P <0.025).Conclusion: 1.GRP78 and COX-2 had higher expression rates in primary hepatocellular carcinoma tissues(HCC),which indicated that GRP78 may be an important material in the follow-up event of endoplasmic reticulum stress.Meanwhile,COX-2 may participate in the development of HCC;2.The expression of GRP78 was increased in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma with hepatitis B virus infection;3.The significant correlation between COX-2 expression and tumor differentiation can be used as one of the indicators to determine prognosis.4.The expression of COX-2 was positively correlated with GRP78,suggesting that there was a close relationship between COX-2 and endoplasmic reticulum stress in HCC.Moreover,the up-regulation of COX2 expression may be one of the important factors in endoplasmic reticulum stress-induced apoptosis resistance.