Objective:To investigate the expression and significance of CD95 and JUK signal transducting system in liver cancer tissue.
Methods: Immunochemistry was employed to determine the expression of CD95, JNK1, JNK2 and c-Jun proteins in HCC tissues and adjacent normal liver tissues in 58 cases of HCC.
Results:The staining of CD95 was located in cytoplasm, and JNK1, JNK2 and c-Jun were in nuclear. The expression of CD95, JNK1, JNK2 and c-Jun in HCC was significantly lower than that in adjacent normal liver tissues (P<0.05). In HCC, the negative expression of CD95 was 43(74.1%) and the positive expression was 15(25.9%). The negative expressions of JNK1, JNK2 and c-Jun were observed in 42(72.4%), 39(67.2%)and 46(79.3 %) cases, respectively; with the positive expressions in 16(27.6%), 19(32.8%)and 12(20.7%) cases, respectively. The CD95 expression level showed a positive correlation with the pathological grade of HCC(r=-0.516, P<0.001); no significant relation was observed between CD95 with gender, age, number of nodules, venous infiltration or cirrhosis(P>0.05). The expression of JNK1, JNK2 and c-Jun respectively showed a negative correlation with the pathological grade of HCC(r=-0.364, P=0.006;r=-0.383, P=0.004;r=-0.508, P=0.002). No significant relation was observed between CD95, JNK1, JNK2, c-Jun and gender, age, number of nodules, venous infiltration or cirrhosis(P>0.05).CD95 expression was positively correlated with expression JNK1(r=0.693, P<0.001), JNK2(r=0.357,P=0.007), and c-J un(r=0.670, P<0.001).
Conclusions:CD95 gene is significantly lower expressed in HCC tissue. CD95 protein may promote the initiation and development of HCC by modulating JNK signal transduction system.