Expression Pattern and Clinical Significance of Gab2 Protein in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Abstract

To investigate the expression pattern of Gab2 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and explore the correlation between Gab2 expression and clinicopathological features of HCC patients. The prognostic significance of Gab2 expression is evaluated to determine the possible role in the progression of HCC. Gab2 expression was detected by immunohistochemistry in 90 HCC samples and matched adjacent noncancerous liver tissues. The mRNA and protein of Gab2 in HCC and normal liver cell lines were examined by quantitative RT-PCR and western blot, respectively. The correlation between Gab2 expression of tumor tissues and clinicopathological parameters was analyzed by Chi-squared test or Fisher's exact test. The association between Gab2 expression and overall survival percentage after surgery was evaluated by Kaplan-Meier method. Gab2 expression was elevated in HCC tissues compared with matched normal liver tissues (p < 0.001). Gab2 was upregulated in a subset of HCC cell lines. Among the clinical and pathological features, Gab2 expression was correlated to the histologic grade of HCC tissues (p < 0.05). Kaplan-Meier analysis of the cumulative survival rate after surgery indicated that no statistical difference existed between high-Gab2 and low-Gab2 expression group (p = 0.8297). Gab2 may be involved in the onset and progression of HCC. Gab2 expression is unable to serve as an independent prognosis factor in HCC patients.