Inui Y, Higashiyama S, Kawata S, Tamura S, Miyagawa J, Taniguchi N, Matsuzawa Y
Second Department of Internal Medicine, Osaka University Medical School, Japan.
Gastroenterology. 1994 Dec;107(6):1799-804. doi: 10.1016/0016-5085(94)90823-0.
BACKGROUND/AIMS: Growth factors are involved in the development and progression of cancer. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the possible role of heparin-binding epidermal growth factor-like growth factor (HB-EGF), which is a member of the EGF family, in the neoplastic transformation of hepatocytes.
Gene expression and protein production of HB-EGF were investigated in samples of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) from 17 patients using Northern hybridization and immunohistochemical methods.
The amount of HB-EGF messenger RNA was increased in the patients' HCC specimens compared with the surrounding liver tissues. In noncancerous hepatic tissues, HB-EGF was faintly positive in hepatocytes. Immunoreactive HB-EGF-producing cells were identified in HCC cells of all 17 patients with HCC, indicating that HB-EGF was produced in HCC cells themselves. However, none of the specimens from 10 patients with metastatic adenocarcinoma in the liver was positive for HB-EGF. The EGF receptor, which binds to HB-EGF, was also expressed on HCC cells.
It is hypothesized that the enhanced expression of immunoreactive HB-EGF on the cell suggests a possible role of HB-EGF in the development or progression of human HCC in an autocrine and/or a juxtacrine manners.
背景/目的：生长因子参与癌症的发生和发展。本研究旨在评估肝素结合表皮生长因子样生长因子（HB-EGF）（属于表皮生长因子家族成员）在肝细胞肿瘤转化中的可能作用。
采用Northern杂交和免疫组化方法，对17例人类肝细胞癌（HCC）患者的样本进行HB-EGF基因表达和蛋白生成的研究。
与周围肝组织相比，患者的HCC标本中HB-EGF信使核糖核酸的量增加。在非癌性肝组织中，肝细胞中HB-EGF呈弱阳性。在所有17例HCC患者的HCC细胞中均鉴定出产生免疫反应性HB-EGF的细胞，表明HB-EGF是由HCC细胞自身产生的。然而，10例肝转移性腺癌患者的标本中无一例HB-EGF呈阳性。与HB-EGF结合的表皮生长因子受体也在HCC细胞上表达。
据推测，细胞上免疫反应性HB-EGF表达增强表明HB-EGF可能以自分泌和/或旁分泌方式在人类HCC的发生或发展中发挥作用。
