A DIAGNOSTIC COMPOSITION FOR HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA AND ITS PROGNOSIS COMPRISING NDRG2 GENE

A composition comprising NDRG2(N-myc downstream regulated gene 2) gene is provided to diagnose hepatocellular carcinoma and its prognosis, and treat hepatocellular carcinoma by inhibiting growth and transition of liver cancer cells through its overexpression. A composition for diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma and its prognosis or preventing or treating hepatocellular carcinoma comprises a primer of SEQ ID NO:3 or 4 capable of amplifying an NDRG2 gene encoding the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2. A microarray for diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma and its prognosis a DNRG2 gene encoding the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2 or its fragment having the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:5. An expression vector pcDNA3.1/myc-his/NDRG2 contains the NDRG2 gene. A promoter of NDRG2 gene has the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:5 and is hypermethylated. A therapeutic agent of hepatitis or hepatocellular carcinoma has the activity of reducing hypermethylation of the promoter of NDRG2 gene having the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:5. A screening method of the therapeutic agent of hepatitis or hepatocellular carcinoma comprises the steps of: (a) preparing a candidate compound; (b) contacting the candidate compound with a cell having a hypermethylated promoter of NDRG2 gene; and (c) determining whether the candidate compound reduce hypermethylation of the promoter.