TEC Expresses Highly in Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Is Involved in Drug Resistance

Objective To investigate the expression level of TEC, a no-receptor tyrosine kinase, in hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) tissues and its correlation with drug resistance. Methods The expressions of TEC mRNA and protein in carcinoma tissues, paracancerous tissues and HepG2 cell line were determined by RT-PCR, Western blot, immunohistochemistrical staining and slot blotting. MTT assay was used to detect the activity of HepG2 cells. A eukaryotic expression vector carrying TEC gene was constructed to obtain high expression level of TEC in HCC, and RNA interference was applied to knock down TEC. Phospho- TEC was also analyzed by CO-IP to determine TEC activation. Results TEC mRNA and protein were both increased significantly in 18 cases of HCC tissues as compared with those in paracancerous tissues(P