Glypican-3 is overexpressed in human hepatocellular carcinoma

Young Kwan Sung, Sun Young Hwang, Mi Kyung Park, Mohammad Farooq, In Sook Han, Han Ik Bae, Jung Chul Kim, Moonkyu Kim

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

144 Scopus citations

Abstract

To identify candidate genes that could be used as diagnostic and therapeutic targets for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), we searched for the genes that are overexpressed in HCC by combining representational difference analysis and microarray. Genes such as glypican-3 (GPC3), insulin-like growth factor 2, long-chain fatty-acid-coenzyme A ligase 4, farnesyl diphosphate synthase were frequently identified in our screening. Northern blot analysis with these four genes confirmed their overexpression in HCC. Among them we found that GPC3 transcript is upregulated in six out of seven cases of HCC. Immunoblot and immunohistochemical staining using polyclonal anti-GPC3 antibodies further confirmed that GPC3 protein is indeed increased in HCC tumor samples. We also found that GPC3 is secreted into culture media from cell lines derived from HCC. We conclude that GPC3 is a good molecular marker for HCC.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)259-262
Number of pages4
JournalCancer Science
Volume94
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Mar 2003

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Glypican-3 is overexpressed in human hepatocellular carcinoma'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this