Expression of Pim-1 in hepatocellular carcinoma patients and its relationship with oncogene c-Myb

Abstract

Objective To determine the expression of Pim-1 in hepatocellular carcinoma patients and its relationship with oncogene c-Myb. Methods From January 2009 to October 2013, 136 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who were received surgical treatment at department of hepatobiliary surgery, the first affiliated hospital of the fourth military medical university, were selected to collect the clinical data, resected liver cancer tissues and para cancerous tissues, and complete the follow-up work. The patients were followed up by outpatient review or telephone. The deadline for follow-up was June 28, 2017. To the end of the study, 14 cases were lost, and 122 cases of HCC were included in this study. At the same time, 85 cases of normal liver tissues which were obtained from hepatic hemangioma in the same period were collected as normal control group. The expression of Pim-1 and c-Myb protein detected in these liver tissues was detected by immuno-histochemical (IHC) staining. Western-blotting test was used to detect the expression of Pim-1 protein in human hepatoma cells SMMC-7721, HepG2, Hep3B, Huh7, MHCCL, MHCC-97H and normal human hepatocytes L-02, HL-7702. The average number of two samples was compared by Student′s t test. The count data were analyzed by chi-square test or Spearman correlation analysis. Results The total positive expression rate of Pim-1 protein in liver cancer tissues was 88.5%(108/122), which was significantly higher than that of para cancerous tissues 73.0%(89/122) and normal liver tissues 69.4%(59/85) (χ2=9.513, P=0.003; χ2=11.739, P=0.001). The total positive expression rate of c-Myb was 96 cases, of which 88 cases were positive for Pim-1 and c-Myb. Spearman correlation analysis showed that the expression of Pim-1 protein and c-Myb protein in HCC tissues was positively correlated (r=0.107, P=0.037). Compared with L-02 and HL-7702 cells, the content of Pim-1 in the cells of human hepatoma cells SMMC-7721, HepG2, Hep3B, Huh7, MHCCL, MHCC-97H increased significantly (P<0.01). Conclusions The expression level of Pim-1 in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues and hepatocellular carcinoma cells increased significantly, and it was correlated positively with the expression of proto oncogene c-Myb. This is closely related to the occurrence and development of HCC. Key words: Carcinoma; Hepatocellular; Oncogenes; Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases; Gene expression; Pim-1