Telomere and telomerase in chronic liver disease and hepatocarcinoma

The pathogenesis of liver cirrhosis is not completely elucidated.Although in the majority of patients,the risk factors may be identified in B and C viral hepatitis,alcohol intake,drugs or fatty liver disease,there is a small percentage of patients with no apparent risk factors.In addition,the evolution of chronic liver disease is highly heterogeneous from one patient to another.Among patient with identical risk factors,some rapidly progress to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)whereas others have a benign course.Therefore,a genetic predisposition may contribute to the development of cirrhosis and HCC.Evidence supporting the role of genetic factors as a risk for cirrhosis has been accumulating during the past years.In addition to the results from epidemiological studies,polymorphisms studies and data on twins,the concept of telomere shortening as a genetic risk factor for chronic liver disease and HCC has been proposed.Here we review the literature on telomerase mutations,telomere shortening and liver disease including hepatocellular carcinoma.

p53和c-myc基因在肝癌和肝硬变细胞中的表达

本实验用免疫组化技术ＡＢＣ法，测定了肝癌和肝硬变细胞中的ｐ５３和ｃ－ｍｙｃ蛋白。结果表明：肝癌组的突变ｐ５３和ｃ－ｍｙｃ基因表达均显著增高（Ｐ＜０．０１），而肝硬变组中ｐ５３和ｃ－ｍｙｃ的表达与正常组无显著差异，肝硬变组的ｃ－ｍｙｃ表达明显低于肝癌组。以上结果提示，ｐ５３基因发生突变、失活以及ｃ－ｍｙｃ基因激活，导致肝癌的发生。