Overall, the 46 tumor samples increased in SMOH proto-oncogene expression (mean: 13.20��24.59). SMOH expression was up-regulated in 15 HCC samples (32.61%). Furthermore, SMOH proto-oncogene expression in tumor positively correlated with the HCC tumor size (��=0.306, P=0.041) (Figure 4A). We also found that the GLI1 mRNA transcript selleck levels had a trend of correlating with the HCC tumor size (��=0.277, P>0.065), whereas the SHH mRNA transcript levels had no correlation with the size of liver tumor (P>0.20). Table 3 Demographics, underlying diseases and tumor related factors for the cohort study Figure 4 Correlation among SHH component gene expressions in HCC and matched non-tumor liver tissues. A. SMOH mRNA expression was correlated with the tumor size (��=0.306, P=0.041); B.

SHH expression was correlated with PTCH in tumor tissues (�� … The serum levels of tumor marker ��-fetoprotein (AFP) are clinically used in the diagnosis and follow-up of patients with malignant liver tumors. Therefore, we examined the relationships among preoperative serum AFP levels, tumor size, as well as the expression of PTCH tumor-suppressor gene and SMOH proto-oncogene. In our cohort study, the serum AFP levels were elevated in 35 cases (76.09%). However, no empirical evidence suggested that the tumor size correlated with the preoperative serum AFP level (��=0.193, P=0.325). The serum AFP levels also had no correlation with the expression levels of SHH, PTCH, SMOH or GLI1 gene in the tumor samples (P>0.30). But interestingly, the serum AFP level inversely correlated with DFS (��=-0.483, P=0.

009) and OS (��=-0.390, P=0.040). Moreover the tumor size also inversely correlated with DFS (��=-0.131, P=0.389 and OS (��=-0.189, P=0.214) although the relationship was not statistically significant. We found that HCC with PTCH overexpression had significantly higher SHH (��=0.381, P=0.009) (Figure 4B) and SMOH expressions (��=0.558, P<0.001) (Figure 4C). Moreover, HCC with PTCH overexpression in adjacent non-tumor liver tissues also tended to have higher SMOH (��=0.485, P=0.001) and SHH expressions (��=0.359, P=0.015) in tumor tissues. This result suggested that SHH overexpression in some of the tumors was associated with increased HH activity. Discussion The HH gene family, which codes a much more sophisticated set of secreted proteins, was first identified in Drosophila in 1980 (5) and essential for early embryo patterning.

Previous studies have reviewed that the HH signaling pathway plays key roles in various processes, such as embryogenesis, maintenance Anacetrapib of adult tissue homeostasis, tissue repair during chronic persistent inflammation, and carcinogenesis (3,30,31). SHH is active only in stem cells and/or endodermal progenitor in adults (16,23). Recent studies showed that aberrant signaling of this pathway is involved in a variety of human cancers (6-20,21-32).