Objective: To study the significance of E-selectin and its ligand-sLeX in the metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
Methods: Flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry were used to detect the expression of E-selectin and its ligand-sLeX in both HCC cell lines and human HCC tissues.
Results: The positive rate of E-selectin in vascular endothelial cells adjacent to cancer was 67.9% (19/28). The expression of E-selectin in tumors accompanied with emboli or satellite foci was significantly higher than that in tumors without emboli or satellite foci (P<0.05), and it was not related to tumor size, tumor capsule, AFP content, and the degree of differentiation. The positive expression of sLeX in SMMU-7721, PLF/PRF/5 and HepGII cell lines was 7.03%, 63.35% and 97.29% respectively. The positive cells of sLeX mainly distributed in the margin of tumor tissues. The positive expression of sLeX in HCC cells in emboli or invasive tumor tissues was much higher than in Primary foci.
Conclusion: E-selectin and its ligand-sLeX are closely correlated with the metastasis of HCC.