Objective To investigate the diagnostic value of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).MethodsThe research was divided into 2 parts,including testing research and confirmatory research.The clinical data of 269 patients with HCC ( group A) and 390 individuals (including 135 patients with hepatic cirrhosis,106 with benign hepatic diseases and 149 healthy individuals,control group A) who were admitted to the Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University from January to May,2004,and 173 patients with hepatic cancer (group B) and 257 individuals (including 86 patients with hepatic cirrhosis,79 with benign hepatic diseases and 92 healthy individuals,control group B ) who were admitted from August to December,2004,and 80 patients with HCC who received radical hepatic resection in January 2005 were retrospectively analyzed.Samples of plasma of patients in the group A and individuals in the control group A were collected before operation.Samples of plasma of patients received radical hepatic resection were collected preoperatively and at postoperative day 3,7 and 30.HCC and adjacent issues of patients in the group A were collected.The levels of MIF in the plasma and tissues were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunohistochemistry,respectively.Non-normal distribution data were described as M( QR).Differences between the groups were analyzed by using the Mann-Whitney U test,and the relationship between the levels of MIF in the plasma and tissues was detected by the Spearman correlation coefficient.The diagnostic value of MIF was analyzed by the ROC curve.ResultsThe levels of MIF in the plasma of patients in the group A and individuals in the control group A were 85.7 μg/L (58.8 μg/L) and 15.5 μg/L(31.6 μg/L),respectively.The levels of MIF in the plasma of the patients with hepatic cirrhosis,benign hepatic diseases and healthy individuals were 24.9 μg/L (12.6 μg/L),12.5 μg/L(7.3 μg/L) and 13.2 μg/L (7.7 μg/L),respectively.There was a significant difference in the level of MIF between the group A and the control group A (F =54.235,P ＜ 0.05 ).The area under the ROC curve reached peak when the level of MIF in the plasma was 35.3μg/L.Compared with the control group B,the vdues of AUC,sensitivity and specificity were 92.1％,90.7％ and 93.4％ in the group B.The levels of MIF of the patients with HCC before operation and at 3,7,and 30 days after operation were 81.0 μg/L(54.0 μg/L),76.1 μg/L(47.5 μg/L),50.9 μg/L (40.7 μg/L) and 18.7 μg/L ( 15.1 μg/L),respectively.The levels of MIF decreased with time passed by,and were back to normal at 30 days after the operation.The median expressions of MIF in the HCC and adjacent issues were 0.083 and 0.007,respectively,with a significant difference ( U =3.975,P ＜ 0.05).The expression of MIF in the plasma was positively correlated with its expression in the HCC tissue ( r =0.759,P ＜ 0.05 ).ConclusionMIF plays an important role in the genesis and development of HCC and has potential to be one of the molecular markers for the diagnosis of HCC.

Objective: To further understand the interaction protein spectrum of heterogeneous ribonucleoprotein AB (hnRNP AB), and to investigate their clinical significance in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: We carried out mass spectrometry to reveal the specific peptides of KRAB-associated protein 1 (Kap1) and hnRNPAB, and verified their interaction by immunocoprecipitation and western blotting. Expression of hnRNPAB/Kap1 proteins were detected by immunohistochemical staining in the tissue microarrays. Categorical data were analyzed by the chi square test or Fisher exact test; enumeration data between groups were compared using Student t-test or Wilcocon signed rank test; the cumulative recurrence and survival rates were evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier method and the differences were assessed using the log-rank test. Results: We identified Kap1 as a molecular partner for hnRNPAB in HCCLM3 cells and HepG2 cells as well. We found that the 5-year survival rate of the Kap1high patients was significantly lower than the survival rate of those of the Kap1low group (36% vs 59% , HR = 1.67, P < 0.001). Similarly, Kap1high HCC patients had the poorest prognosis at 5-years, with higher cumulative recurrence rate than Kap1low patients (72% vs 54%, HR = 1.66, P = 0.001). Univariate and Multivariate analyses revealed that hnRNPAB /Kap1 alone (HR = 1.35 /1.28, P = 0.001) or in combination with Kap1 (HR =1.24 /1.27, P < 0.05) were independent prognostic indicators for overall survival and time to recurrence. Conclusion In HCC cells, hnRNPAB and Kap1 form protein complexes. The expression levels of hnRNPAB alone or in combination with Kap1 in HCC patients are important because they provide not only a predictor for HCC prognosis but also a therapeutic target for future studies.