Elevated levels of transforming growth factor beta messenger RNA and its polypeptide in human hepatocellular carcinoma
Ito, N.; Kawata, S.; Tamura, S.; Takaishi, K.; Shirai, Y.; Kiso, S.; Yabuuchi, I.; Matsuda, Y.; Nishioka, M.; Tarui, S.
Cancer Research 51(15): 4080-4083
1991
ISSN/ISBN: 0008-5472 PMID: 1649698 Document Number: 372272
Malignant cells in culture express elevated levels of transforming growth factor .beta.1 (TGF-.beta.1) mRNA and secrete an abundant amount of TGF-.beta. protein, but little is known about the production of TGF-.beta. in human malignant tissues in vivo. We estimated the levels of TGF-.beta.1 mRNA expression by Northern hybridization and measured TGF-.beta. protein using a radioreceptor assay in tumor tissues surgically obtained from six patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). TGF-.beta.1 mRNA was expressed at much higher levels in HCC tissues from all the cases compared with normal human liver, suggesting an association of the activated TGF-.beta.1 gene transcription with hepatocarcinogenesis. The content of TGF-.beta. was 207 .+-. 121 ng/g wet tissue in the HCC tissue, and it showed correlation with the level of TGF-.beta.1 mRNA in the tissue (r = 0.69; P < 0.05). An immunohistochemical study demonstrated that TGF-.beta.1 staining could be observed in HCC cells. These observations suggest that human HCC strongly expresses TGF-.beta.1 mRNA in vivo, leading to a high content of TGF-.beta. protein.