Objective: To investigate UbcH10 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma and explore its clinicopathological implications.
Methods: We detected UbcH10 mRNA expression using RT-PCR in normal liver cell line, cancer cell lines, surgically removed hepatocellular carcinoma tissue and corresponding adjacent non-tumor tissue and evaluated the clinicopathological significance of UbcH10. Immunohistochemistry was performed to investigate UbcH10 protein expression in hepatocellular carcinoma tissue, the adjacent tissue, and normal liver tissue specimens.
Results: Normal liver cell line L02 showed significantly lower UbcH10 mRNA expression levels than the cancer cell lines BEL-7402, Hep3B, HepG2 and SMMC-7721 (P<0.05). UbcH10 mRNA expression was also was significantly higher in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues than in the corresponding non-tumor tissues (P<0.05). Clinicopathological evaluation suggested that UbcH10 expression was associated with tumor invasion of the portal vein, tumor size, TNM staging, and tumor differentiation (P<0.05). Immunohistochemistry identified stronger UbcH10 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues than in the adjacent tissues and normal liver tissues (68.6%, 28.6%, and 26.7%, respectively).
Conclusion: UbcH10 is over-expressed in hepatocellular carcinoma and may serve as a novel biomarker as well as a therapeutic target of hepatocellular carcinoma.