Livin may serve as a marker for prognosis of bladder cancer relapse and a target of bladder cancer treatment

Abstract Objectives To evaluate the expression of Livin in bladder cancer, investigate its clinical and prognostic implications, and explore the effect of gene Livin transfection on the proliferation and apoptosis in bladder cancer cells. Methods The expression of Livinα and β was detected in 48 bladder cancer samples (G1 in 23 cases, G2 in 17 cases, and G3 in 8 cases. Of the 48 cases, 17 developed relapse) and 15 non-tumor bladder tissues by Western blot and reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR). Livinα-pcDNA3.1(+) was constructed and transfected into T24, BIU-87 and EJ bladder cancer cells. The clone activity of the transfected cells was detected by colony formation analysis. MTT was used to determine the cell proliferation assay. Flow cytometry and acridine orange staining were used to examine apoptosis. Caspase 3 activity assay was also measured. Results Expression of Livinα, but not β, was detected in 19 of the 48 bladder cancer samples; G1 was 39.13%, G2 and G3 were 41.18% and 37.50%, respectively, which showed no significant ( P > 0.05), but not in 15 non-tumor bladder tissues. The positive rate of Livinα was significant higher in relapse tumors (58.82%) than in primary tumors (29.03%) ( P < 0.05). By the end of 2 years follow-up, the relapse rate in Livin positive patients was 68.42%, and 37.93% in Livin negative group. The difference between the two groups was significant ( P < 0.05). Additionally, overexpression of Livinα clearly stimulated cell proliferation and inhibited chemical induced apoptosis in bladder cancer cells. Conclusions Livin may serve as a promising marker to identify the relapse risk in bladder cancer, and targeting Livin could offer a therapeutic benefit in apoptosis-inducing treatment.