[Correlation of NDRG1 gene with liver tissue differentiation and hepatocarcinogenesis].

OBJECTIVE: To detect the expression profile of NDRG1 gene in different tissues and cell lines and explore the relationship of NDRG1 with liver tissue differentiation and hepatocarcinogenesis.
METHODS: The expression profiles of NDRG1 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues, paired noncancerous liver (PNL) tissues, adult normal liver (NL) tissues, baby mouse liver tissues and fetal liver tissues in different developmental stages and cultured cell lines were performed using RT-PCR and Northern Blot analysis.
RESULTS: Expression of NDRG1 was significantly up-regulated in HCC tissues compared to that of NL tissues and PNL tissues, however, the expressions of NDRG1 in NL and PNL tissues showed no evident difference. In ten cell lines, the highest expression was in the 293T human kidney cell line, the next one in liver cell L02, and the lowest one in the undifferentiated HLE cell line. Expression of NDRG1 in liver tissues enhanced with the development of the baby mouse and human fetus.
CONCLUSION: NDRG1 is probably related to the liver cell differentiation and is highly expressed in the specific stage of the differentiation. However, it could not be recognized as a marker of differentiation. The high expression of NDRG1 in HCC indicates that HCC is not just distributed to a simple de-differentiation. Much more study is necessary in understanding the comprehensive relationship of the disorder proliferation and differentiation of HCC and the related genes.