Purpose: To explore the expression of WD-40 repeat and SOCS box containing 1 (WSB1) and its clinical significance in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
Methods: Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to detect the expression level of WSB1 in clinical tissues. Survival curves were platted using the Kaplan-Meier method and log rank test was used to compare survival between groups. The influencing factors for the long-term survival were analysed using Cox univariate and multivariate analysis. In in vitro study, Western blot was used to evaluate the effects of WSB1 on epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of tumor cells.
Results: The expression of WSB1 was much higher in cancer tissues than that in para-normal tissues, and the WSB1 expression was correlated with tumor differentiation, lymph node metastasis and clinical stage. In addition, HCC patients with higher WSB1 expression had significantly poorer progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Both univariate analysis and multivariate analyses indicated that high expression of WSB1 was an independent predictor of poor prognosis in HCC. Further in in vitro study, downregulation of WSB1 in HCC cell line could reduce the expression of epithelial phenotype protein (E-cadherin) while increase the expression of mesenchymal phenotype protein (N-cadherin and Vimentin).
Conclusions: WSB1 might contribute into the development of HCC and serve as a clinical biomarker and a therapeutic target for HCC patients.