The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between human zinc finger 23 (ZNF23) expression and clinico-pathological characteristics in patients suffering from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and to investigate ZNF23 expression in relation to cell apoptosis.
Patients and methods: Thirty-seven HCC samples were collected and ZFP23 mRNA levels were determined by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Correlation between ZNF23 expression and patients' clinical characteristics was analyzed. For determining the effect of ZNF23 on cell apoptosis, HepG2 cells were exposed to cisplatin at different concentrations and ZNF23 mRNA assayed.
Results: Median relative mRNA levels of ZNF23 mRNA in HCC tissues and adjacent tissues were 8.84 (3.59-15.05) and 22.20 (13.85-42.90), respectively (U=259.5, p<0.01). Median mRNA levels of ZNF23 in patients with Edmondson stage I+II disease [12.80 (4.80-19.50)] were much higher than those of patients with stage III+IV disease [5.01 (2.88-11.68), U=99.00, p<0.05]. 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay demonstrated that cisplatin significantly inhibited cell proliferation of HepG2 cells in a dose-dependent manner, which was positively correlated to cell apoptosis (F=27.89, p<0.01), and in response to increasing cisplatin concentrations, ZNF23 mRNA levels increased in the cells.
Conclusion: Cisplatin-induced apoptotic effect in HepG2 cells may be mediated via the up-regulation of ZNF23, which suggests that the ZNF23 gene could play an important role in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma.