INTRODUCTION According to the therapeutic effect and strategy of antisense RNA for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), we have specifically synthesized partial cDNA of human insulin-like growth factor Ⅱ (IGFⅡ ) and constructed IGF-Ⅱ cDNA antisense eukaryotic expression vector. The constructed vector was introduced into hepatoma cell line SMMC-7721 to block the intrinsic IGF- Ⅱexpression. The biological behavior changes of hepatoma cells were observed. All these would provide scientific basis for IGF- Ⅱ antisense RNA in the treatment of HCC.

AIM We have previously reported that inducible over-expresaion of Bak may prolong cell cycle in G1 phase and lead to apoptosis in HCC-9204 cells. This study is to investigate whether p27KIP1 plays an important role in this process. MEHODS In order to elucidate the exact function of p27KIP1 in this process, a zinc inducible p27KIP1 stable transfectant and transient p27KIP1- GFP fusion transfectant were constructed. The effects of inducible p27KIP1 on cell growth, cell cycle arrest and apoptosis were examined in the mock, control pMD vector, and pMD-KIP1 transfected HCC-9204 cells. RESULTS This p27KIP1-GFP transfectant may transiently express the fusion gene. The cell growth was reduced by 35% at 48 h of p27KIP1 induction with zinc treatment as determined by trypan blue exclusion assay. These differences remained the same after 72 h of p27KIP1 expression, p27KIP1 caused cell cycle arrest after 24 h of induction, with 40% increase in G1 population. Prolonged p27KIP1 expression in this cell line induced apoptotic cell death reflected by TUNEL assay. Fourty-eight h and 72 h of p27KIP1 expression showed a characteristic DNA ladder on agarose gel electrophoresis.

ALM In order to study the association between the null genotypes of GSTM1 and GSTT1 and the genetic susceptibility to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).METHODS The genotypes of GSTM1 and GSTT1 of 63 cases of HCC and 88 controls were detected with the multiple PCR technique.RESULTS The frequency of GSTM1 null genotype was 57.1% among the cases, and 42.0% among the controls, the difference being statistically significant (x2 = 3.35, P = 0.067),but X2 value approaching the significance level.The odds ratio was 1.84 (95% Cl=0.91 - 3.37).The frequency of GSTT1 non-null genotype was 87.3% among the cases and 62.5% among the controls, the difference being statistically significant (X2=11.42, P=0.0007274). The odds ratio was 4.13 (95% Cl = 1.64 - 10.70).According to the cross analysis, the GSTT1 nonnull genotype was more closely associated with HCC than GSTM1 null genotype, and these two factors play an approximate addlitive interaction in the occurrence of HCC.CONCLUSION The persons with GSTM1 nullgenotype and GSTT1 non-null genotype have the increased risk to HCC.

AIM To investigate the clinical features of FADD and TRADD expressions in primary hepatocellular carcinoma ( HCC ) and to determine their relationship with hepatic apoptosis.METHODS FADD and TRADD expressions were detected by immunohistochemistry and hepatic apoptosis were determined by in situ endlabeling ( ISEL).RESULTS Ten (25.6%) cases of HCC were detected to express FADD protein. The positive rate in HCC is lower than that in non-cancerous adjacent liver tissues (62.5%) (P＜0.05). In those of grade Ⅰ - Ⅱ, 8 (38.1%) cases were FADD positive, while only 2/18 (11. 1%) cases of grade Ⅲ - Ⅳ had detectable FADD protein (P＜0.05). No relationship was found between FADD expression and other clinical features,such as gender, age, tumor size, differentiation or metastasis. ISEL positive cells can be seen in all cases of HCC. The hepatic apoptosis was associated with FADD expression as more apoptotic cells were detected in those cases which had moderately to strongly positive FADD, as compared with negative or weak positive FADD cases (P＜ 0.05). No relationship was found between FADD expression and hepatic apoptosis in non-cancerous adjacent liver tissues. Fifteen of 39 (38.5%) cases of HCC were found positive for TRADD protein, and similar positive rate (37.5%) in non-cancerous adjacent liver tissues (P ＞0.05). The expression of TRADD is correlated with HCC differentiation,as only 22.2% of moderately to highly differentiated HCC showed positive TRADD protein, while as high as 52.4% of poorly differentiated HCC had TRADD (P＜0.05). No relationship was found between TRADD expression and gender, age, tumor size or grade or metastasis, although 42.9% of HCC of grade Ⅰ/Ⅱ showed positive TRADD which was slightly higher than that of grade Ⅲ/Ⅳ (33.3%,P ＞ 0.05). Hepatic apoptosis was not related to TRADD expression in HCC or non-cancerous adjacent liver tissues.CONCLUSION Loss of FADD expression plays an important role in HCC carcinogenesis, and expression of TRADD also contributes to HCC development. The cell apoptosis in HCC is associated with FADD expression. However, the expression of TRADD does not correlate well with hepatic apoptosis in HCC.

Objective To investigate the effect of overexpression of bcl-2 on ethanol-induced apoptosis of primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells.Methods The retrovirus expression vector pDOR-SB containing human bcl-2 cDNA was introduced into a human HCC cell line HCC-9204 by liposome-mediated transfection. pDOR-transfected and non-transfected HCC-9204 cells were used as controls. The expression of Bcl-2 protein by transfected HCC-9204 cells was detected by the immunohistochemical method. Then the cells were cloned with the limited dilution method continually until a monoclonal cell strain whose positive rate of Bcl-2 protein was 100% detected by flow cytometry was obtained. The killing rates of cells were detected by Methabenzthiazuron assay after the treatment of 6% ethanol for 6?h. The extent of apoptosis was analyzed by transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) staining and flow cytometry.Results Most of the pDOR-SB-transfected cells demonstrated Bcl-2 positive signals, while no signal was found in the controls. The positive rate of Bcl-2 protein detected by flow cytometry in the obtained monoclonal cell strain, which was named HCC-bcl2, was 100% after the cells had been cloned 3 times continually. The killing rate, TUNEL index and the scale of sub-G1 apoptotic peak in HCC-bcl2 cells were all significantly lower than those in the control cells.Conclusion Overexpression of Bcl-2 protein suppresses ethanol-induced apoptosis of the HCC cell line HCC-9204.

Aim The 3' -base specific polymerase chain reaction (3' - BS- PCR) method was established to investigate the relationship between the mutation of precore region of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and the liver damage to the patients caused by HBV and the possibility of HBV precore gene integration in liver cells. Mdthods According to the DNA sequence of precore region of HBV, the method of 3' - BS- PCR is applied to analyze the point mutation site 1896 of HBV precore in 126 clinical serum specimens and 23 hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients' tissues and serum whose trmors have been surgically excised and pathologically diagnosed. Rdsults The point mutation in site 1896 of HBV precore has been successfully rates of preore gene of HBV in the 23 patients' tissues and serum are 52.2 96 (12/23) and 30.4 96 (7/23) respectively. Conclusion The established method for HBV precore mutation analysis is simple and results can well repeated. It has provided a new approach to clinical HBV research and its relationship to liver damage. The results obtained suggested that HBV precore mutation exists in a wide range among serum and tissue of the patients infected by HBV and HCC patients, and the pre-c gene of HBV can not be detected in the serum of 21.8% of the HCC patients (tissue HBV precore gene positive). We may deduce that there may be the integration of HBV precore gence in the genome of liver cells, which may play an important role in the carcinogenesis of HCC.