Relationship between miRNAs and recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma after liver transplantation in Wistar rats and significance

Abstract

Objective To investigate the relationship between miRNAs and the recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after liver transplantation in Wistar rats and the significance. Methods A small and superficial incision into the left lateral lobe of male Wistar rats was made. A 0.5-1.0 mm cube of walker-256 carcinosarcoma fragments was implanted into the 1iver incision. The rat model of HCC was established, and the liver transplantation model was established after 2 weeks. Three weeks after transplantation, the Wistar rats after liver transplantation were divided into 2 groups: no recurrence group (group A) and recurrence group (group B). The survival rate and recurrence were observed 3 weeks after liver transplantation. The liver tissues and HCC tissues in both two groups were obtained. The real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to detect the expression of miR-192, miR-122, miR-146a and miR-148a in both two groups.. Results The presence of solitary tumor was 100% at 2nd week in the intrahepatic tumor implantation model, and the orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) of recipients was done. The 3-week cumulative survival rate after OLT was 76.5%. The relative expression of miR-192 was higher, and that of miR-122, miR-146a and miR-148a was lower in the recurrence group than in the non-recurrence group with the difference being statistically significant. Conclusion Our study, in addition to suggesting a different miRNA expression pattern between HCC samples of rats with recurrence and those with non-recurrence, proposes miR-192, miR-122, miR-146a and miR-148a may serve as biomarkers for prognosis of HCC recipients following OLT. Key words: Rats; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Liver transplantation; Animal model; miRNA; Recurrence