Cell cycle and growth regulators gene expression in liver cancer tissues and adjacent normal tissues

Objective To understand a liver cancer specific cell cycle and growth regulators gene expression profile and to study the difference between liver cancer tissues and their adjacent normal tissues. Methods The cDNA probes which were labeled with α 32 P dATP were synthesized from total RNA of cancer and differentially hybridized to two identical Atlas human cancer cDNA expression array membranes containing 588 known genes. A gene specific semiquantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT PCR) method and Northern Blot were used to confirm the expression pattern of two known genes. Results Autoradiographic results analyzed by specific AtlasImage TM (version 1.01 a) showed that of the 588 genes analyzed, among 79 genes related to cell cycle and growth regulators, 7 were found to be up regulated in cancer, including TFDP 2, E2F 2, ERK, while MAPKK and CDK3 were down regulated in cancer. The RT PCR and Northern Blot results demonstrated that theexpression pattern of two genes agreed with the results of Atlas expression array. Conclusion The results from Atlas microarray provide a liver cancer specific expression profile for the first time comprehensively and systematically. In addition, the findings about genes related to cell cycle and growth regulators may lead to find the clues of carcinogenesis and progression of liver cancer.