Expression of Matrilin2 in Liver Cirrhosis and He

Authors: Erzsébet Szabó Éva Korpos Enkhjargal Batmunkh Gábor Lotz Ágnes Holczbauer Ilona Kovalszky Ferenc Deák Ibolya Kiss Zsuzsa Schaff András Kiss

Publish Date: 2008/04/02

Volume: 14, Issue: 1, Pages: 15-22

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Abstract

The recently described matrilin protein family is part of the extracellular matrix their pathophysiological role as well as distribution in liver diseases however have not yet been studied Considering that matrilins have been found to play role in cell growth and tissue remodeling their possible involvement in carcinogenesis has been raised The main objective of this study was to investigate the changes in matrilin2 expression which is one of the main components of basement membranes Thirtyfive cases of surgically resected hepatocellular carcinomas 35 corresponding surrounding liver tissues and 10 normal liver samples were used for the study In 15 of 35 cases the tumor developed on the basis of cirrhosis Matrilin2 protein expression was detected in normal liver around bile ducts portal blood vessels while sinusoids were negative by immunohistochemistry Cirrhotic surrounding tissue showed intensive matrilin2 staining along the sinusoids Tumorous neovasculature was found strongly positive by immunohistochemistry No differences however were detected by morphometry regarding the amount of protein expression based on the grade of hepatocellular carcinomas Realtime RTPCR did not show significant differences in matrilin2 mRNA expression between normal cirrhotic and tumor samples This suggests posttranslational modification of matrilin2 manifesting in altered distribution in liver fibrosis Our data indicate that matrilin2 is a novel basement membrane component in the liver which is synthetised during sinusoidal “capillarization” in cirrhosis and in hepatocellular carcinoma This is the first report to describe the expression and distribution of matrilin2 in human normal and cirrhotic liver as well as in hepatocellular carcinoma

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