Objective To evaluate the expression and clinical significance of monoacylglycerol lipase ( MAGL ) in primary hepatocellular carcinoma ( HCC ). Methods The MAGL expression of cancer tissues and the adjacent non -tumor tissues from 50 HCC cases, and of hepatic tissues from 16 normal livers, were assessed with Real - Time PCR, im-munohistochemistry and Western Blot. The correlation between the MAGL expression and pathological characteristics were also analyzed. Results ( 1 ) According to immunohistochemetry, MAGL was mainly expressed in nucleus in cancer tissues , while cytoplasmic expression was dominated in the adjacent non - tumor tissues and normal hepatic tissues. In addition, there were significant differences in MAGL expression among cancer tissues, adjacent non - tumor tissues and normal tissues ( P < 0. 05 ), furthermore, the MAGL expression was significantly higher in poorly differentiated liver cancer tissue than that in well differentiated liver tissues ( P < 0. 05 ). (2) According to real - time PCR, the MAGL mRNA was significantly evaluated in either poor differentiated or high differentiated cancer tissues, when comparing with that in normal hepatic tissues ( P <0. 05 ). ( 3 ) According to Western Blot, strong positive MAGL expression was observed in cancer tissues, while weak positive MAGL expression was revealed in adjacent non - tumor tissues and normal tissues. Furthermore, the MAGL expression was significantly up - regulated in either poor or high differentiated hepatic cancer tissues when comparing with that in both adjacent non - tumor and normal hepatic tissues ( P < 0. 01 ). Conclusion The up - regulation of MAGL is positively correlated with the malignancy of primary hepatocellular carcinoma, which probably plays an important role in invasions and metastasis of cancer cells.%目的 探讨单酰甘油脂肪酶(monoacylglycerol lipase,MAGL)在原发性肝细胞肝癌中的表达及临床意义.方法 应用Real-Time PCR、免疫组织化学和Western blot检测50例肝癌及癌旁组织、16例正常肝组织标本中MAGL的表达,比较MAGL在癌组织、癌旁组织及正常肝组织中表达的差异,并分析其与临床病理特征的关系.结果 (1)免疫组织化学检测结果显示,MAGL在癌组织主要表达于细胞核中,而在癌旁组织和正常组织主要表达在细胞质中;MAGL在肝癌组织、癌旁组织及正常肝组织三组中差异有统计学意义(P<0.05);MAGL在低分化肝癌中的表达阳性率明显高于高分化肝组织(P<0.05).(2)Real-Time PCR结果显示,高分化、低分化以及癌旁组织中MAGL的mRNA水平均较正常肝组织中显著增高(P<0.01);(3)Western blot结果显示,癌组织中MAGL蛋白呈强阳性表达,而癌旁组织和正常组织中呈弱阳性表达;高分化及低分化癌组织中MAGL的蛋白水平较癌旁组织和正常肝组织中显著增高,组间比较差异有统计学意义(P<0.01).结论 MAGL表达水平与原发性肝细胞肝癌的恶性表型呈正比,它可能在癌细胞侵袭和转移过程中发挥重要作用.
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