Effect of bax, bcl-2 and bcl-xL on regulating apoptosis in tissues of normal liver and hepatocellular carcinoma.

Abstract

To investigate the expression of bax, bcl-2 and bcl-xL mRNA in the tissues of normal liver and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and analyze the relationship between the expression of bax, bcl-2 and bcl-xL mRNA and clinical parameters of HCC patients. The expression of bax, bcl-2 and bcl-xL mRNA of normal liver and HCC was measured by Northern blot. Statistical analyses were made by t test and correlation analysis. A very low mRNA level was indicated at bax, bcl-2 and bcl-xL in the HCC tissues in contrast to the tissues of normal liver by Northern blot analysis. The analyses of mRNA level revealed that HCC tissues exhibited a mean 7.6-fold decrease in bax, 4.2-fold in bcl-2 and 3.5-fold in bcl-xL in comparison with normal control tissues, respectively. Positive correlation was found between bax and bcl-xL (r=0.7061, P<0.01). There was no significance between the mRNA expression of these three genes and age, gender, tumor differentiation and tumor stage of HCC patients. The results are consistent with the fact that apoptosis rarely occurs in normal livers but increases in HCC, indicating that bcl-2 and bcl-xL may play a very important role in regulating the apoptosis of normal liver and HCC.