Identification of a novel precancerous marker for liver cancer

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24790268
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: General pharmacology
• Research Institution: Doshisha Women's College of Liberal Arts
• Principal Investigator: AMAGASE Yoko 同志社女子大学, 薬学部, 助教 (90550822)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 遺伝子 / 癌 / 診断 / シグナル伝達 / アポトーシス

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Liver cancer is a leading cause of death in the world. Early diagnosis and treatment may improve morbidity and mortality of liver cancer. Identification of novel precancerous marker for early diagnosis and treatment is crucial.
When rats were treated with a carcinogenic agent diethylnitrosoamine for a long period of time, the increase of NADE (p75-NTR associated death executor) expression in the liver started before morphological changes were observed. The expression of some cancer stem cell markers started to increase later than NADE and the increase continued until cancerous tumours occupy large part of the liver. On the other hand, NADE expression was inversely decreased in the later stage. Considering the real time PCR and immunohistochemistry results together, NADE appears to express at damaged regions early, followed by the expression of cancer stem cell markers. NADE is potentially a good candidate for a novel precancerous marker of the liver as well as a therapeutic target.

Free Research Field

病態生理学