Molecular markers of hepatocellular carcinoma based on stress-induced ligands recognized by γδ T cells

CHEN Hui; XU Yi; LU Bichao; ZHANG Jianmin; HE Wei

doi:10.13431/j.cnki.immunol.j.20170066

Abstract：Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common malignant tumor with a survival rate of less than five years.This study try to explore molecular markers of HCC,focusing on the stress-induced ligand recognized by γδT cells.Flow cytometry was employed to detect the expression of 11 stress-induced ligands in the surface of three commonly used human HCC cell lines (HepG2,SMMC7721 and Hep3B) and a normal human embryonic liver cell line (cccHEL-1).Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and plasma were collected from 9 HCC patients and 10 healthy controls.The proportion of γST cells in PBMC was analyzed by flow cytometry and the concentration of 10 stress-induced ligands in plasmas were detected by ELISA.Data showed that there were differences in the expression pattern of stress-induced ligands among the three HCC cell lines.ULBP1,ULBP5,HSP60,HSP90 and MSH2 were up-regulated in all three HCC cell lines when compared with cccHEL-1.The total proportion of γδ T cells and CD27-γδ T cells in PBMC of HCC patients were significantly increased,while the proportion of Vδ2 γδ T cells was significantly decreased.The concentration of 10 stress-induced ligands in plasma were very different,and the concentration of ULBP1,ULBP4 and HSP90 in the plasma of HCC patients were significant higher than that of controls.Our results indicated that stress-induced ligands ULBP1 and HSP90,up-regulated in HCC cell lines and plasma of HCC patients,will be reliable molecular markers for HCC.