Objective: To know if ATX is expressed in hepatocellular carcinoma.
Methods: 7721 hepatoma cell lines in culture, 5 normal liver tissues, and 32 histologically verified HCC specimens were obtained. Semiquantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction was used to detect mRNA expression of ATX.
Results: The cDNA sequence of RT-PCR product of 7721 hepatoma cell lines was measured, it showed that nucleotides measured were 332 bp. ATX cDNA nucleotide sequence in HCC was found to share 99.7% homology with that in Melanoma. ATX was expressed in all of the 32 HCC and 5 normal liver tissues. The mean expression level of ATX gene in HCC samples was higher than that in normal liver tissues (0.68 +/- 0.1 vs 0.3 +/- 0.08, P < 0.01).
Conclusion: ATX gene was found to be in existence in HCC and normal liver tissues. The homology of ATX cDNA sequence between HCC and human Melanoma was 99.7%, and ATX may play an important role in HCC metastatic mechanism.