FLNA and PGK1 are two potential markers for progression in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background/Aims: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most deadly diseases; metastasis and recurrence are the most important factors that affect the therapy of HCC chronically. Until now, the prognosis for the metastasis of HCC had not improved. Recently, several proteins that are related to metastasis and invasion of HCC were identified, but the effective markers still remain to be elucidated. Methods: In this study, comparative proteomics was used to study the differentially expressed proteins in two HCC cell lines MHCC97L and HCCLM9, which have low and high metastatic potentials, respectively. Results: Our findings indicated that filamin A (FLNA) and phosphoglycerate kinase 1 (PGK1) were two significantly differentially expressed proteins, with high expression in HCCLM9 cells, and may influence the metastasis of HCC cells. Conclusion: Taken together with the confirmation of expression on the mRNA level, we propose the use of FLNA and PGK1 as potential markers for the progression of HCC. Copyright (C) 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel