Thymosin beta 4 and thymosin beta 10 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma

Thymosin β4, a potential marker of malignancy and prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND

The lack of effective early diagnostic markers is an obstacle in clinical diagnosis and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) is an increasing popular approach for identification of clinically relevant parameters including biomarkers.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

540 subjects, including 274 HCC, 119 liver cirrhosis, 89 hepatitis, and 58 healthy volunteers were enrolled. MALDI-TOF MS was used to select potential novel biomarkers from serum of HCC patients. Its clinical application was evaluated by experiments and clinical data analysis.

RESULTS

We identified Thymosin β4 (Tβ4) in serum by MALDI-TOF MS. The expression of Tβ4 was detected up-regulating in HCC cells and tissues which enhanced motility of HCC cells. More important, the level of serum Tβ4 was significantly elevated in HCC patients. The AUROC showed the optimum diagnostic cut-off was 1063.6 ng/mL, ROC and 95% CI of Tβ4 (0.908; 0.880-0.935) were larger than that of serum AFP (0.712; 0.662-0.762; p < 0.001). The sensitivity (91.3% vs 83.1%) and specificity (81.2% vs 20.3%) of serum Tβ4 were higher than alpha-fetoprotein (AFP). In AFP-negative HCC, the sensitivity could reach to 80.5%. ROC analysis showed serum Tβ4 had a better performance compared with AFP in distinguishing early-stage and small HCC. Tβ4 is correlated with TNM stage (p = 0.016) and vascular invasion (p = 0.005). Survival analysis indicated the survival time of Tβ4 positive patients was shorter (p < 0.001). Cox analysis suggested Tβ4 could be an independent factor for HCC prognosis.

CONCLUSION

Tβ4 may serve as a novel biomarker for HCC diagnosis and prognosis.

Exploring the macromolecules for secretory pathway in cancer disease

Secretory proteins play an important role in the tumor microenvironment and are widely distributed throughout tumor tissues. Tumor cells secrete a protein that mediates communication between tumor cells and stromal cells, thereby controlling tumor growth and affecting the success of cancer treatments in the clinic. The cancer secretome is produced by various secretory pathways and has a wide range of applications in oncoproteomics. Secretory proteins are involved in cancer development and tumor cell migration, and thus serve as biomarkers or effective therapeutic targets for a variety of cancers. Several proteomic strategies have recently been used for the analysis of cancer secretomes in order to gain a better understanding and elaborate interpretation. For instance, the development of exosome proteomics, degradomics, and tumor-host cell interaction provide clear information regarding the mechanism of cancer pathobiology. In this chapter, we emphasize the recent advances in secretory protein and the challenges in the field of secretome analysis and their clinical applications.

Are Humanized Mouse Models Useful for Basic Research of Hepatocarcinogenesis through Chronic Hepatitis B Virus Infection?

Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a global health problem that can lead to liver dysfunction, including liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Current antiviral therapies can control viral replication in patients with chronic HBV infection; however, there is a risk of HCC development. HBV-related proteins may be produced in hepatocytes regardless of antiviral therapies and influence intracellular metabolism and signaling pathways, resulting in liver carcinogenesis. To understand the mechanisms of liver carcinogenesis, the effect of HBV infection in human hepatocytes should be analyzed. HBV infects human hepatocytes through transfer to the sodium taurocholate co-transporting polypeptide (NTCP). Although the NTCP is expressed on the hepatocyte surface in several animals, including mice, HBV infection is limited to human primates. Due to this species-specific liver tropism, suitable animal models for analyzing HBV replication and developing antivirals have been lacking since the discovery of the virus. Recently, a humanized mouse model carrying human hepatocytes in the liver was developed based on several immunodeficient mice; this is useful for analyzing the HBV life cycle, antiviral effects of existing/novel antivirals, and intracellular signaling pathways under HBV infection. Herein, the usefulness of human hepatocyte chimeric mouse models in the analysis of HBV-associated hepatocarcinogenesis is discussed.

Adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma: advances in proteomic research

BACKGROUND

Many efforts have been performed in the last decade to accomplish the genomic and proteomic characterization of pediatric adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma with the purpose to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying the onset and development of this pediatric brain tumor, its high recurrence rate, and, although classified as a histologically benign neoplasm, its aggressive behavior.

METHODS

The focus of this review is to perform the new comparison of the proteomic profiles of the solid component and the intracystic fluid of adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma based on our previous results, obtained by both the top-down and the bottom-up proteomic approaches, to disclose differences and similarities, and to discuss the results in the context of the most recent literature.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

Proteins and peptides identified in the cyst fluid and in the solid component of adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma (AC) include beyond markers of inflammation (i.e., alpha-defensins), proteins involved in cell migration and protein degradation (i.e., beta-thymosin and ubiquitin peptides), whose main role might be in tumor growth and infiltration of the surrounding neural structures. These last appeared different in the solid components compared with the cyst fluid, missing their terminal part in the solid tissue, a feature generally associated to malignancies, which might represent a distinct molecular site for an aggressive behavior of AC.

Thymic function affects breast cancer development and metastasis by regulating expression of thymus secretions PTMα and Tβ15b1

Breast cancer is currently one of the most common malignant tumors in women. Our previous research found that thymic dysfunction has a certain relationship with the occurrence and development of breast cancer. In order to explore whether the functional status of thymus is related to the development and metastasis of breast cancer, we use BALB/c wild type mice (BALB wt), BALB/c nude mice (BALB nu), BALB wt mice implanted with 4T1 cells (wt 4T1), BALB nu with 4T1 (nu 4T1), D-galactose treatment wt 4T1 mice (D-Gal), Thymalfasin treatment wt 4T1 mice (Tα1), Cyclophosphamide treatment wt 4T1 mice (CTX), Doxorubicin treatment wt 4T1 mice (Dox) in the research. As a result, nu 4T1, D-Gal and DOX had earlier lung metastases. Gene chip results showed that PTMα and Tβ15b1 were the most up-regulated and down-regulated genes in thymosin-related genes, respectively. Overexpression or silencing of PTMα and Tβ15b1 genes did not affect the proliferation of 4T1 cells. PTMα gene silenced, cell migration and invasion ability enhanced, while PTMα gene overexpression, the cell invasion ability weaken. In vivo, PTMα gene overexpression promotes tumor growth and lung metastasis in the early stage, but has no significant effect in the later stage. Tβ15b1 overexpression also promotes tumor growth in the early stage, but suppresses in the later stage. Tβ15b1 gene silencing inhibits tumor lung metastasis. Thus, our findings demonstrated that thymic function affects breast cancer development and metastasis by regulating expression of thymus secretions PTMα and Tβ15b1. Our study provided new directions for breast cancer therapy.

Recombinant Expression and Bioactivity Characterization of TAT-Fused Thymosin β10

Thymosin beta 10 (TB10) is one of the common members among beta-thymosins. Human TB10 is reported to play a role in anti-angiogenesis and inhibition of cell migration during the tumorigenesis or metastasis of some certain cancers. Thus, it would be a potent clinical agent. In the present study, the coding sequence of TB10 was optimized based on the codon preference of Escherichia coli and cloned to pET28a (+) by chemical synthesis and molecular cloning methods. The recombinant protein was highly expressed employing E. coli expressing system and purified by a simple step of Ni²⁺ affinity chromatography. The TEV proteinase recognition site was inserted in the His₆-tag and the target protein for easy removal of the His₆-tag. To improve the biological activity of TB10, the transactivator of transcription (TAT) short peptide, a transduction domain, was added to the N-terminus of TB10. About 14.3 mg of the recombinant TB10 proteins was obtained from 1 L bacterial culture. The functional analyses demonstrated that the recombinant TB10 proteins displayed the distinct inhibition on angiogenesis by chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane assay and endothelial cell migration by wound healing assay. The TAT-fused TB10 even had stronger effects, probably due to the better transduction into the cells.

Overexpression of thymosin β10 correlates with disease progression and poor prognosis in bladder cancer

Thymosin β10 (TMSB10) has been found to be overexpressed and function as an oncogene in several types of cancer. However, there have been limited reports on the role of TMSB10 in bladder cancer (BCa). In the present study, reverse transcription-quantitative PCR was used to quantify the expression of TMSB10 in BCa cell lines, clinical specimens and their corresponding control samples. The protein expression of TMSB10 was also examined in archived tissues from 101 patients with pathologically confirmed BCa by immunohistochemistry. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression models were used to evaluate the prognostic significance of TMSB10 in patients with BCa. The data indicated that the mRNA levels of TMSB10 were significantly overexpressed in BCa cell lines. In addition, the protein levels of TMSB10 were overexpressed in BCa tissues compared with those in adjacent normal tissues. In 55/101 (54.5%) BCa specimens, high expression levels of TMSB10 were noted. Statistical analysis revealed that the high expression of TMSB10 was positively associated with muscular invasion (P<0.05). In addition, a high expression of TMSB10 was associated with shorter overall survival (OS) of patients (P<0.05; log-rank test). The univariate and multivariate analyses suggested that the protein overexpression of TMSB10 was an unfavorable prognostic factor for OS (P<0.05) in patients with BCa. Knockdown of the expression of TMSB10 significantly suppressed cell migration and invasion. In conclusion, TMSB10 can be considered an independent factor for the poor prognosis of patients with BCa. The targeting of TMSB10 can reduce the migration and invasion of BCa cells.

Thymosin β 10 is overexpressed and associated with unfavorable prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma

Thymosin β 10 (TMSB10) has been demonstrated to be overexpressed and function as an oncogene in most types of human cancer including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In our study, we present more evidence about the clinical significance and biological function of TMSB10 in HCC. First, we observed levels of TMSB10 expression were obviously increased in HCC tissues compared with normal liver tissues at The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) datasets. Furthermore, we confirmed that TMSB10 mRNA and protein levels were also increased in HCC tissue samples compared with normal adjacent normal liver tissue samples. In addition, we found high TMSB10 expression was remarkably associated with the advanced tumor stage, large tumor size, distant metastasis, and poor prognosis, and acted as an independent factor for predicting poor overall survival in HCC patients. Loss-of-function studies suggested silencing of TMSB10 expression dramatically reduced cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in HCC. In conclusion, TMSB10 may hold promise as a tumor biomarker for predicting prognosis and a potential target for developing a novel therapeutic strategy.

A loss of profilin-1 in late-stage oral squamous cell carcinoma

BACKGROUND

The genes for PFN1 and TMSB4 are both highly expressed in oral tissue and both encode actin monomer binding proteins thought to play a role in cell motility and possibly other crucial parts of tumor progression.

METHODS

Oral brush cytology of epithelium from oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) was used to measure PFN1 and TMSB4 mRNA in OSCC, while immunohistochemical analysis of tissue was used to check protein levels.

RESULTS

High but variable expression of mRNAs encoding these two proteins was observed suggesting they may contribute to tumor characteristics in a subset of OSCCs. Both proteins were highly expressed in normal appearing basal epithelium, in the cytoplasm, and perinuclear area, while expression was minimal in upper epithelial layers. In OSCCs, expression of these proteins varied. In tumors classified as later stage, based on size and/or lymph node involvement, PFN1 levels were lower in tumor epithelium. A control gene, KRT13, showed expression in normal differentiated basal and suprabasal oral mucosa epithelial cells and as reported was lost in OSCC cells.

CONCLUSION

Loss of PFN1 in tumor cells has been associated with lymph node invasion and metastasis in other tumor types, strengthening the argument that the protein has the potential to be a tumor suppressor in late-stage OSCC.

Is there still room for novelty, in histochemical papers?

Histochemistry continues to be widely applied in biomedical research, being nowadays mostly addressed to detect and locate single molecules or molecular complexes inside cells and tissues, and to relate structural organization and function at the high resolution of the more advanced microscopical techniques. In the attempt to see whether histochemical novelties may be found in the recent literature, the articles published in the European Journal of Histochemistry in the period 2014-2016 have been reviewed. In the majority of the published papers, standardized methods have been preferred by scientists to make their results reliably comparable with the data in the literature, but several papers (approximately one fourth of the published articles) described novel histochemical methods and procedures. It is worth noting that there is a growing interest for minimally-invasive in vivo techniques (magnetic resonance imaging, autofluorescence spectroscopy), which may parallel conventional histochemical analyses to acquire evidence not only on the morphological features of living organs and tissues, but also on their functional, biophysical and molecular characteristics. Thanks to this unceasing methodological refinement, histochemistry will continue to provide innovative applications in the biomedical field.

Thymosin Beta 4 Is a Potential Regulator of Hepatic Stellate Cells

Liver fibrosis, a major characteristic of chronic liver disease, is inappropriate tissue remodeling caused by prolonged parenchymal cell injury and inflammation. During liver injury, hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) undergo transdifferentiation from quiescent HSCs into activated HSCs, which promote the deposition of extracellular matrix proteins, leading to liver fibrosis. Thymosin beta 4 (Tβ4), a major actin-sequestering protein, is the most abundant member of the highly conserved β-thymosin family and controls cell morphogenesis and motility by regulating the dynamics of the actin cytoskeleton. Tβ4 is known to be involved in various cellular responses, including antiinflammation, wound healing, angiogenesis, and cancer progression. Emerging evidence suggests that Tβ4 is expressed in the liver; however, its biological roles are poorly understood. Herein, we introduce liver fibrogenesis and recent findings regarding the function of Tβ4 in various tissues and discuss the potential role of Tβ4 in liver fibrosis with a special focus on the effects of exogenous and endogenous Tβ4. Recent studies have revealed that activated HSCs express Tβ4 in vivo and in vitro. Treatment with the exogenous Tβ4 peptide inhibits the proliferation and migration of activated HSCs and reduces liver fibrosis, indicating it has an antifibrotic action. Meanwhile, the endogenously expressed Tβ4 in activated HSCs is shown to promote HSCs activation. Although the role of Tβ4 has not been elucidated, it is apparent that Tβ4 is associated with HSC activation. Therefore, understanding the potential roles and regulatory mechanisms of Tβ4 in liver fibrosis may provide a novel treatment for patients.

Immunohistochemical markers of CYP3A4 and CYP3A7: a new tool towards personalized pharmacotherapy of hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents a major global health problem, since more than 90% of primary liver cancers worldwide are HCC. Most cases of HCC are secondary to viral hepatitis infection (hepatitis B or C), alcoholism and cirrhosis. Sorafenib, an oral tyrosine kinase inhibitor that suppresses tumor proliferation and angiogenesis, emerged as the first effective systemic treatment for HCC after 30 years of research, and is currently the standard-of-care for patients with advanced HCC. Sorafenib is metabolized by cytochrome P450 (CYP450), particularly from the 3A4 isoform, producing two main metabolites: the N-oxide and the N-hydroxymethyl metabolite. We studied 11 HCC sample showing the presence of CYP3A4 and CYP3A7 in most of the samples analysed. Specifically, the immunoreactivity of CYP3A4 was stronger and more widespread than that of CYP3A7. The CYP3A4 immunoreactivity was observed in surrounding hepatocytes in 8 out of 11 cases; while the CYP3A7 immunostaining was found in normal liver cells, in 7 out of 11 cases. These results suggest the existence of a marked inter-individual variability regarding the presence of the isoforms of CYP3A. In addition, since sorafenib is metabolized by CYP3A4, but not by CYP3A7, an overexpression of CYP3A4 may lead to an increase in the degradation of the drug and then to clinical ineffectiveness. These results might implicate the necessity of an individualized approach in the treatment of HCC as positivity to CYP3A4 in HCC liver samples might predict a scarce response to sorafenib.

Histochemistry in biology and medicine: a message from the citing journals

Especially in recent years, biomedical research has taken advantage of the progress in several disciplines, among which microscopy and histochemistry. To assess the influence of histochemistry in the biomedical field, the articles published during the period 2011-2015 have been selected from different databases and grouped by subject categories: as expected, biological and biomedical studies where histochemistry has been used as a major experimental approach include a wide of basic and applied researches on both humans and other animal or plant organisms. To better understand the impact of histochemical publications onto the different biological and medical disciplines, it was useful to look at the journals where the articles published in a multidisciplinary journal of histochemistry have been cited: it was observed that, in the five-years period considered, 20% only of the citations were in histochemical periodicals, the remaining ones being in journals of Cell &amp; Tissue biology,  general and experimental Medicine, Oncology, Biochemistry &amp; Molecular biology, Neurobiology, Anatomy &amp; Morphology, Pharmacology &amp; Toxicology, Reproductive biology, Veterinary sciences, Physiology, Endocrinology, Tissue engineering &amp; Biomaterials,  as well as in multidisciplinary journals.It is easy to foresee that also in the future the histochemical journals will be an attended forum for basic and applied scientists in the biomedical field. It will be crucial that these journals be open to an audience as varied as possible, publishing articles on the application of refined techniques to very different experimental models: this will stimulate non-histochemist scientists to approach histochemistry whose application horizon could expand to novel and possibly exclusive subjects.

GPX4 and GPX7 over-expression in human hepatocellular carcinoma tissues

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of liver cancer and is still one of the most fatal cancers. Hence, it needs to identify always new putative markers to improve its diagnosis and prognosis. The selenium is an essential trace mineral implicated as a key factor in the early stage of cancer and exerts its biological function through the selenoproteins. In the last years our group has been studying the involvement of some selenoproteins in HCC. However, no many data are reported in literature about the correlation between HCC and the glutathione peroxidases (GPXs), both selenium and non selenium-containing GPXs.

In this paper we have evaluated the GPX4 and GPX7 expression in some paraffin-embedded tissues from liver biopsy of patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related cirrhosis and HCC by immunohistochemistry and RT-qPCR analysis. Our results evidenced that i) GPX4 and GPX7 had a statistically significant over-expression in HCC tissues compared to cirrhotic counterparts used as non tumor tissues, and ii) their expression was higher in grade III HCC tissues with respect to grade I-II samples. Therefore, we propose to use GPX4 and GPX7 as possible markers for improving HCC diagnosis/prognosis.

High-resolution mass spectrometry for thymosins detection and characterization

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to characterize β and α thymosins and their proteoforms in various tissues and bodily fluids by mass spectrometry and to look at their association with a wide variety of pathologies.

METHODS

A top-down proteomic platform based on high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled to high-resolution LTQ-Orbitrap mass spectrometry (MS) was applied to the characterization of naturally occurring peptides.

RESULTS

In addition to thymosin β4 (Tβ4) and β10 (Tβ10), several post-translational modifications of both these peptides were identified not only in bodily fluids but also in normal and pathological tissues of different origins. The analysis of tissue specimens allowed the characterization of different C-terminal truncated forms of Tβ4 and Tβ10 together with other proteolytic fragments. The sulfoxide derivative of both Tβ4 and Tβ10 and the acetylated derivatives at lysine residues of Tβ4 were also characterized. Different proteoforms of prothymosin α, parathymosin α, thymosin α1 and thymosin α11 together with diverse proteolytic fragments were identified too.

CONCLUSION

The clinical and prognostic significance and the origin of these proteoforms have to be deeply investigated.

Potential role of thymosin Beta 4 in liver fibrosis

Liver fibrosis, the main characteristic of chronic liver diseases, is strongly associated with the activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs), which are responsible for extracellular matrix production. As such, investigating the effective regulators controlling HSC activation provides important clues for developing therapeutics to inhibit liver fibrosis. Thymosin beta 4 (Tβ4), a major actin-sequestering protein, is known to be involved in various cellular responses. A growing body of evidence suggests that Tβ4 has a potential role in the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis and that it is especially associated with the activation of HSCs. However, it remains unclear whether Tβ4 promotes or suppresses the activation of HSCs. Herein, we review the potential role of Tβ4 in liver fibrosis by describing the effects of exogenous and endogenous Tβ4, and we discuss the possible signaling pathway regulated by Tβ4. Exogenous Tβ4 reduces liver fibrosis by inhibiting the proliferation and migration of HSCs. Tβ4 is expressed endogenously in the activated HSCs, but this endogenous Tβ4 displays opposite effects in HSC activation, either as an activator or an inhibitor. Although the role of Tβ4 has not been established, it is apparent that Tβ4 influences HSC activation, suggesting that Tβ4 is a potential therapeutic target for treating liver diseases.

Impact of Histochemistry on biomedical research: looking through the articles published in a long-established histochemical journal

Histochemistry provides the unique opportunity to detect single molecules in the very place where they exert their structural roles or functional activities: this makes it possible to correlate structural organization and function, and may be fruitfully exploited in countless biomedical research topics. Aiming to estimate the impact of histochemical articles in the biomedical field, the last few years citations of articles published in a long-established histochemical journal have been considered. This brief survey suggests that histochemical journals, especially the ones open to a large spectrum of research subjects, do represent an irreplaceable source of information not only for cell biologists, microscopists or anatomists, but also for biochemists, molecular biologists and biotechnologists.

[Mechanism of thymosin beta 10 inhibiting the apoptosis and prompting proliferation in A549 cells]

背景与目的

胸腺素β10（thymisin β10, Tβ10）是胸腺素家族的成员之一，它的分子量在5 kDa左右，是哺乳动物体内含量最丰富的β胸腺素之一，作为一种肌动蛋白结合蛋白，它可能通过调控肌动蛋白的结构改变细胞的生长、死亡、粘附和迁移。Tβ10在肿瘤的增殖、凋亡、血管形成方面也发挥重要的作用。然而Tβ10在不同类型的肿瘤中所发挥的作用有很大差异且Tβ10对肺癌细胞增殖和凋亡的影响尚未见文献报道。本研究选择肺腺癌细胞系A549作为研究对象，通过加入Tβ10或用小干扰RNA干扰Tβ10的方法，检测肺癌细胞凋亡、增殖及细胞周期的变化，探讨Tβ10对肺癌细胞这几种生物学行为的影响及其可能的机制。

方法

流式双染检测加入Tβ10或干扰Tβ10后细胞凋亡的变化，PI染色后检测细胞周期的变化，CCK-8法检测细胞增殖能力的变化，Real-time PCR及蛋白免疫印迹检测增殖、凋亡相关基因的变化。

结果

加入Tβ10能抑制A549细胞的凋亡，促进细胞的增殖，增加S期和G₂期/M期细胞的比率，减少Caspase-3、P53表达的同时增加Cyclin A、Cyclin E表达；干扰Tβ10能促进A549细胞的凋亡，抑制细胞的增殖，增加G₀期/G₁期细胞的比率，增加Caspase-3、P53表达的同时减少Cyclin A、Cyclin E表达。

结论

在肺癌细胞系中Tβ10能够通过抑制P53的表达抑制细胞凋亡，能够通过上调Cyclin A、Cyclin E的表达水平，促进细胞周期进程，促进细胞的增殖。Tβ10可能成为肺癌诊断的分子标记物及治疗靶标。

High expression of thymosin beta 10 predicts poor prognosis for hepatocellular carcinoma after hepatectomy

Background

Thymosin beta 10 (Tbeta10) overexpression has been reported in a variety of human cancers. However, the role of Tbeta10 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unclear. The aim of the present study was to analyze Tbeta10 expression in tumor and matched non-tumorous tissues, and to assess its prognostic significance for HCC after hepatectomy.

Methods

The level of Tbeta10 mRNA and protein in tumor and matched non-tumorous tissues was evaluated in 26 fresh HCC cases by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and western blot. Additionally, Tbeta10 protein expression in 196 HCC was analyzed by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and correlated with clinicopathological characteristics and survival.

Results

Results from RT-PCR and western blot analysis show that the levels of Tbeta10 mRNA and protein were significantly higher in tumor tissues of HCC, compared to that in matched non-tumorous tissues (P = 0.01 and P <0.001, respectively). IHC staining showed that high expression of Tbeta10 was detected in 58.2% (114/196) of HCC cases. High expression of Tbeta10 was significantly associated with advanced TNM stage (P <0.001). Survival analysis demonstrated that high Tbeta10 was related to shorter overall survival (OS) (P = 0.000) and disease-free survival (DFS) (P = 0.000). Multivariate analysis showed that high expression of Tbeta10 was an independent prognostic factor for both OS (P = 0.001, HR = 4.135, 95% CI: 2.603 to 6.569) and DFS (P = 0.001, HR = 2.021, 95% CI: 1.442 to 2.832). Subgroup analysis revealed that high expression of Tbeta10 predicts poorer survival for early and advanced stage.

Conclusions

Tbeta10 protein abnormal expression might contribute to the malignant progression of HCC. High expression of Tbeta10 predicts poor prognosis in patients with HCC after hepatectomy.