Correlation between CYP3A43 expression and its prognosis predictive value in hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

Objective To investigate the expression level of CYP3A43 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and normal liver tissue, and to analyze whether CYP3A43 expression in HCC tissue correlates with the prognosis of HCC patients. Methods TCGA and GEO (GSE14520) data were analyzed to determine CYP3A43 mRNA expression level and prognostic value. We performed immunohistochemical (IHC) assays in 107 HCC and 20 normal liver tissue samples to compare CYP3A43 protein expression difference between normal liver and HCC tissues, and to analyze the clinical and prognostic value of CYP3A43 protein expression in HCC tissues. Results The data from GEO and TCGA suggested that, compared with that in adjacent non-tumor tissue, CYP3A43 mRNA was significantly down regulated in HCC tissue. IHC assays further confirmed that CYP3A43 protein was down regulated in HCC tissue. Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated that both the mRNA and protein levels of down regulated CYP3A43 expression in HCC tissue correlated with the poor prognosis of HCC patients. In addition, analysis also indicated that low CYP3A43 expression in HCC tissue associated with poor differentiation of HCC (P<0.05). Conclusion Compared with that in adjacent non-tumor and normal liver tissue, CYP3A43 expression is significantly down-regulated in HCC tissue. Low CYP3A43 expression correlates with poor tumor differentiation, and indicates the poor prognosis of HCC patients. Key words: Hepatocellular carcinoma; CYP3A43; Differentiation; Prognosis