Functional Genomics and Proteomics Towards and Understanding of Cell Signaling and Diseases--- Genomic and Proteomic Analyses of Liver Cells During Hepatitis Virus Infections and Cell Therapy (4/4)

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) usually occurs in cirrhotic liver. Only 10-30% of HCC occur in non-cirrhotic liver. It has been suggested that etiological factors may differ for HCC which develop in cirrhotic liver: HCC in non-cirrhotic liver might be less often associated with viral infection and chronic alcoholism than HCC in cirrhotic livers. However, in any individual, the factors that determine HCC with or without cirrhosis remain unknown.

Cirrhosis is the end of fibrosis progression. The progress of liver fibrosis is a complex progress involving many cytokines related to activation of the hepatic stellate cells and progressive accumulation of extracellular matrix. The key enzymes responsible for deposition and degradation of all the protein component of extracellular matrix and basement membrane are matrix metalloproteinases.

To assess whether genetic variations in cytokines and matrix metalloproteinases result in diversity of liver cirrhosis and HCC, we conduct a case-control study of single nucleotide polymorphism analysis.