Gene expression profiles in hepatoma cell line BEL-7402 and normal liver tissues

Objective To know a hepatoma cell line-specific gene expression profile and to identify genes that show altered expression between hepatoma cell line and normal liver tissues.Methods The cDNA probes which were labeled with α- 32 P dATP were synthesized from total RNA of hepatoma cell line and corresponding almost normal liver tissues 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 were analyzed by specific AtlasImage TM (version1.01a) software.Among the 588 genes analyzed,it was found 26 genes were up-regulated in cancer,including TFDP2,Akt1,E2F-3 etc,and 22 genes were down-regulated in cancer,including TDGF1,BAK,Caspase-3,etc.The expression levels of genes that were associated with the regulation of cell proliferation,apoptosis,differentiation,cell-cell interaction,invasion regulators and cytokines altered most.The RT-PCR and Northern blot results demonstrated that the expression pattern of two genes agreed with the results of Atlas human cancer cDNA expression array.Conclusion The results obtained from Atlas microarray provide a hepatoma cell line-specific expression profile.The differential hybridization technique of microarray may be a useful method in understanding the carcinogenesis,progression and treatment of human cancer.