The expressions of acid sensing ion channel 1a and activator protein-1 in hepatocellular carcinoma and their relationships with clinical features

Abstract

Objective To investigate the expressions of acid sensing ion channel 1a(ASIC1a) and activator protein-1(AP-1) in hepatocellular carcinoma, and to analyze the relationship between expressions and clinical features. Methods At the transcription level, expression spectroscopy chips and bioinformatics were used to analyze the changes of signal pathways before and after ASIC1a interference in hepatocellular carcinoma cells. 63 cases of HCC and 42 cases of tumor adjacent tissue samples were chosen from the Third People's Hospital of Wuxi, between January 2010 and December 2014. Immunohistochemical staining was utilized to detect the expressions of ASIC1a, c-Jun, c-Fos. The relationships among the three were analyzed by the nonparametric Spearman rank correlation coefficient. Results After ASIC1a inhibition, the expression of AP-1 (c-Jun and c-Fox) decreased significantly. The expressions of c-Jun and c-Fox were greatly decreased in interference group compared with control group. The positive rates of ASIC1a, c-Jun and c-Fos in HCC tissues were significantly higher than that of the adjacent tissues, 68.3% vs. 19.0%, 55.6% vs. 11.9%, 47.6% vs. 11.7% (P 0.05), which were related to the clinical stage, AFP and lymph node metastasis of the tumor (P<0.05). Conclusion ASIC1a may affect the development of hepatocellular carcinoma through the downstream gene AP-1. Key words: Hepatocellular carcinoma; Acid sensing ion channel 1α; Activator protein-1; Correlation