Abstract:Objective：To investigate the significance of activation of nuclear factor-κB(NF-κB) and expression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha(TNF-α)mRNA in hepatocellular carcinoma.
Methods ：Chemoluminescent electrophoretic mobility shift assay(EMSA) was used to detect the activity of NF-κB in normal liver tissues, hemangiomas of liver, HCC tissues and tissues adjacent to cancer; and expression of TNF-α mRNA in each group was detected by RT-PCR analysis.
Results：Expression of TNF-α mRNA in tissues adjacent to cancer and HCC tissues groups was 0.36±0.16 and 0.68±0.21,respectively, significantly higher than that in normal liver tissues and hemangiomas of liver 0.24±0.12 and 0.21±0.10 (all P<0.05). The activity of NF-κB in tissues adjacent to cancer and HCC tissues was significantly higher than that in normal liver tissues and hemangiomas of liver (P<0.05),and the expression of TNF-α mRNA in tissues adjacent to cancer and HCC tissues had a significant positive correlation with the activity of NF-κB(r=0.773,P<0.05; r=0.838,P<0.05, respectively).
Conclusions：Abnormal activation of NF-κB signal transduction pathway and TNF-α was related to development and progression of HCC.