The homeobox gene HLXB9 is upregulated in a morphological subset of poorly differentiated hepatocellular carcinoma

Wilkens, Ludwig; Jaggi, Rolf; Hammer, Caroline; Inderbitzin, Daniel; Giger, Olivier; von Neuhoff, Nils (2011). The homeobox gene HLXB9 is upregulated in a morphological subset of poorly differentiated hepatocellular carcinoma. Virchows Archiv, 458(6), pp. 697-708. Berlin: Springer-Verlag 10.1007/s00428-011-1070-5

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The prognostic outcome for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains poor. Disease progression is accompanied by dedifferentiation of the carcinoma, a process that is not well understood. The aim of this study was to get more insight into the molecular characteristics of dedifferentiated carcinomas using high throughput techniques. Microarray-based global gene expression analysis was performed on five poorly differentiated HCC cell lines compared with non-neoplastic hepatic controls and a set of three cholangiolar carcinoma (CC) cell lines. The gene with the highest upregulation was HLXB9. HLXB9 is a gene of the homeobox genfamily important for the development of the pancreas. RT-PCR confirmed the upregulation of HLXB9 in surgical specimens of carcinoma tissue, suggesting its biological significance. Interestingly, HLXB9 upregulation was primary observed in poorly differentiated HCC with a pseudoglandular pattern compared with a solid pattern HCC or in moderate or well-differentiated HCC. Additional the expression of translated HLXB9, the protein HB9 (NCBI: NP_001158727), was analyzed by western blotting. Expression of HB9 was only detected in the cytoplasm but not in the nuclei of the HCC cells. For validation CC were also investigated. Again, we found an upregulation of HLXB9 in CC cells accompanied by an expression of HB9 in the cytoplasms of these tumor cells, respectively. In conclusion, homeobox HLXB9 is upregulated in poorly differentiated HCC with a pseudoglandular pattern. The translated HB9 protein is found in the cytoplasm of these HCC and CC. We therefore assume HLXB9 as a possible link in the understanding of the development of HCC and CC, respectively.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

04 Faculty of Medicine > Service Sector > Institute of Pathology
04 Faculty of Medicine > Pre-clinic Human Medicine > BioMedical Research (DBMR) > Forschungsbereich Pathologie > Forschungsgruppe Molekularbiologie
04 Faculty of Medicine > Department of Gastro-intestinal, Liver and Lung Disorders (DMLL) > Clinic of Visceral Surgery and Medicine > Visceral Surgery

UniBE Contributor:

Wilkens, Ludwig, Jaggi, Rolf, Hammer, Caroline, Inderbitzin, Daniel, Giger, Olivier

ISSN:

0945-6317

Publisher:

Springer-Verlag

Language:

English

Submitter:

Factscience Import

Date Deposited:

04 Oct 2013 14:21

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 14:06

Publisher DOI:

10.1007/s00428-011-1070-5

PubMed ID:

21484430

Web of Science ID:

000291158300008

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.7003

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/7003 (FactScience: 212138)

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