Correlation between hyaluronic acid, hyaluronic acid synthase and human renal clear cell carcinoma

Abstract

To study the correlation between hyaluronic acid (HA), hyaluronic acid synthase (HAS) and human renal clear cell carcinoma (RCCC). The expression of three HAS isoforms' gene and HA in 93 RCCC tissues, 27 nephridial tissues by the side of RCCC from two hospitals were measured with Real-Time RT-PCR、Western Blot and immunohistochemical methods and analyzed. All RCCC and adjacent normal tissues expressed three HASs' mRNA & protein; at the mRNA level, both RCCC and adjacent normal tissues, expressed more HAS3 than HAS1 or HAS2, their differences were statistically significant (all P values <0.05); but, at the protein level, all HAS isoforms presented the equivalent expression. Compared with the adjacent non-neoplastic kidney tissues, the expression of all HAS isoforms' mRNA in RCCC tissues were increased evidently and their differences were significant (all P values <0.0001); but at the protein level, only the expression of HAS3 increased evidently (P=0.022). In all adjacent normal tissues, more than 80% renal tubular cells strongly expressed HA, however, only the minority RCCC cases (16/93) presented weakly positive HA staining in few cancer nests (5%-30%), the difference were significant (P<0.0001). In RCCC tissues subgrouped according to clinical stage, pathological grade, lymphatic metastasis or not and distant metastasis or not, the HASs' mRNA & protein differential expression all had no statistical significance (all P values >0.05). Different from other malignancy, HA and HASs (except for HAS3) may not play important roles in the biological progress of human RCCC.