Objective: To investigate the expression and clinicopathological significance of transcription factor Twist in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), paraneoplastic and cirrhotic tissues.
Method: Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of the Twist protein in 26 cases of HCC and paraneoplastic tissue and 10 cases of cirrhotic tissue. Meanwhile, the Twist mRNA and its protein were detected in 10 HCC tissues and 10 paraneoplastic tissues by RT-PCR and Western blot. And the expression differences and clinicopathological significances of the expression of Twist gene and its protein were analyzed.
Results: The positive rates of the Twist protein in HCC, paraneoplastic and cirrhotic tissues were 84.6%, 19.2 % and 20.0 %, respectively. The positive rate of Twist in HCC was higher than that in paraneoplastic or cirrhosis tissues (P < 0.05). Compared with in paraneoplastic tissues, the mRNA and protein expression of Twist were up-regulated in HCC by 2.52 and 2.13 times, respectively.
Conclusion: Twist has an inappropriate expression in hepatocellular carcinoma and it may play an important role in the tumorigenesis and progression of HCC.