Expression of β-catenin Protein in Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Its Relationship with Alpha-fetoprotein

This study aimed to investigate the expression of β-catenin in hepatocellular carcinoma（HCC） tissues and its relationship with α-fetoprotein（AFP） in HCC.Immunohistochemistry was used to determine the expression of β-catenin in normal liver tissues（n=10）,liver cirrhosis tissues（n=20）,and primary HCC tissues（n=60）.The relationship between β-catenin expression and clinical parameters of HCC was investigated.Real-time PCR and Western blotting were used to detect the m RNA and protein expression levels of β-catenin in the liver cancer cell line SMMC-7721 transfected with a plasmid encoding AFP,and also the m RNA and protein expression levels of β-catenin were measured in the liver cancer cell line Huh7 before and after the transfection with AFP sh RNA plasmids.The results showed that β-catenin was only expressed on the cell membrane in normal liver tissues.Its localization to the cytoplasm and nucleus of cells was observed in a small proportion of cirrhotic tissues or adjacent HCC tissues,and such ectopic expression of β-catenin was predominant in HCC tissues.The abnormal expression of β-catenin was correlated with serum AFP levels,cancer cell differentiation and vascular invasion（P〈0.05）.Additionally,the increased expression of AFP resulted in the upregulation of β-catenin m RNA and protein levels,while knockdown of AFP with AFP sh RNA led to significantly decreased β-catenin m RNA and protein levels（P〈0.05）.It was suggested that the abnormal expression of β-catenin is implicated in hepatic carcinogenesis and development.AFP can lead to increased expression of β-catenin,which may account for the poor prognosis of AFP-associated HCC patients.