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. 2014 May 25;7(6):3190-5.
eCollection 2014.

Expression of Wnt-5a and β-catenin in primary hepatocellular carcinoma

Peifeng Li  1 , Yongcheng Cao  1 , Yamin Li  2 , Luting Zhou  1 , Xiaohong Liu  1 , Ming Geng  1
Affiliations

Expression of Wnt-5a and β-catenin in primary hepatocellular carcinoma

Peifeng Li et al. Int J Clin Exp Pathol. .

Abstract

It has been reported that changes in Wnt5a expression are closely related to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development, while decreased or abnormal β-catenin expression may promote the invasion and metastasis of tumor cells. In this study, the roles and clinical significance of Wnt-5a and β-catenin expression were analyzed in primary HCC. Real-time PCR (RT-PCR) analysis of Wnt-5a mRNA expression was performed in 26 fresh HCC samples and the corresponding para-carcinoma tissues. Wnt-5a and β-catenin protein expression was detected by immunohistochemical staining of paraffin-embedded tissues of 85 cases of HCC and corresponding para-carcinoma tissues and 15 cases of hepatic cirrhosis. Results showed that Wnt-5a mRNA levels were significantly higher in HCC tissue than in the para-carcinoma tissue (0.102 ± 0.159 and 0.020 ± 0.022, respectively; P < 0.05), while Wnt-5a protein was absent or low in HCC. Wnt-5a expression was detected in significantly fewer HCC tissue samples than in the para-carcinoma and hepatic cirrhosis tissue samples (21.2% (18/85), 81.26% (69/85) and 86.7% (13/15), respectively; P < 0.01). Abnormal localization of β-catenin protein shown by intracytoplasmic or intranuclear staining was observed in 72.94% (62/85) of HCC samples. These observations indicate that the role of Wnt-5a in HCC is mediated at the protein level rather than the transcriptional level. Furthermore, the abnormal localization of β-catenin observed in HCC tissues may be associated with gene mutation leading to the generation of truncated β-catenin proteins, which in turn, may represent an initiating or contributing factor in the development of HCC.

Keywords: Hepatocellular carcinoma; RT-PCR; Wnt-5a; immunohistochemistry; β-catenin.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Wnt5a mRNA expression. A: RT-PCR results of Wnt5a mRNA expression in HCC; B: Agarose gel electrophoresis of PCR-amplified Wnt5a and GAPDH gene products. (n: para-carcinoma, c: HCC).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Immunohistochemical analysis of Wnt-5a protein expression in normal, hepatic cirrhosis, para-carcinoma and HCC tissues. A: Negative Wnt-5a expression in normal hepatic tissue; B: Strong Wnt-5a expression in hepatic cirrhosis; C: Strong Wnt-5a expression in para-carcinoma tissues and reduced Wnt-5a expression in HCC tissues.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Immunohistochemical analysis of β-catenin protein expression in normal (A), hepatic cirrhosis (B) and HCC tissues (C).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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