Epithelial mesenchymal Transition (EMT) associated transcription factor Goosecoid is highly expressed in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)

More than one million new cases of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are reported per year. Furthermore HCC is the fifth common cancer in the world, while it is the third common cause of death in cancers. The aim of our work was to test the hypothesis that EMT and involved transcription factors play a role in the development of hepatocellular cancer. The transcription factor Goosecoid has been described to be associated with EMT and was increased in carcinomas with a high metastatic potency. Therefore we analyzed expression of Goosecoid, Twist and SNAIL in human HCC. Total RNA was isolated from biopsies of human HCC and corresponding adjacent normal liver tissue. Human liver biopsies were evaluated by a pathologist. mRNA expression levels of EMT related transcription factors SNAIL, TWIST and Goosecoid (GSC) were analyzed by qRT-PCR. Analyzing 53 paired samples of HCC and adjacent normal liver tissue, we found a significantly increased expression of GSC in HCC compared to corresponding normal liver (p<0.001). The mRNA expression of GSC was approximately 7-fold higher in the HCC than in normal liver tissue. TWIST expression was also found to be elevated in HCC compared to normal liver tissue. Furthermore, we observed a positive correlation of GSC with TWIST expression. On the other hand SNAIL was expressed at almost identical levels in HCC and normal tissue. In an ongoing study we analyze expression levels in relation to histopathological and clinical parameters. In conclusion, transcription factors known to be involved in the EMT process such as TWIST are enhanced in HCC samples compared to non involved liver tissue. Additionally, we found Goosecoid, a recently discovered important mediator of EMT to be enhanced in HCC. Therefore, GSC is an interesting potential biomarker and therapeutic target.

EMT - GSC - HCC - HCC tissue - SNAIL - TWIST - biomarker - normal liver tissue