Expression and significance of RhoC gene in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Aim: To investigate the expression of RhoC gene in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and to evaluate the relationship between RhoC gene expression and invasion and metastasis of HCC.

Methods: mRNA expression level of RhoC gene was examined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in 25 cases of HCC and para-cancerous normal liver tissues. In addition, mutation of RhoC gene was examined by polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformational polymorphism (PCR-SSCP).

Results: The mRNA expression levels of RhoC in tumor tissues were significantly higher than those in para-cancerous normal liver tissues (1.8+/-1.1 vs 1.0+/-0.7, P<0.01). The metastatic lesions outside of liver also showed significantly higher RhoC mRNA levels than corresponding tumor tissues in liver (3.3+/-0.5 vs 2.0+/-0.7, P<0.01). There were significant associations between RhoC gene expression and certain clinical and pathological findings, including cell differentiation, vein invasion, number of tumor nodes and metastatic lesions. Mutation of RhoC gene was not found by PCR-SSCP.

Conclusion: The RhoC gene may be related to malignant transformation and development of HCC and may play an important role in the invasion and metastasis of HCC by overexpression but not mutation.