Abstract

Animal studies indicated that P1 promoter–driven hepatocyte nuclear factor 4 alpha (HFN4A) prevents carcinogenesis in colitis. But the function of total HNF4A protein has not been fully investigated, and it was assumed to be involved in the colitis-neoplastic sequence. The aim of this study was to determine the clinical value of total P1-/P2-driven HNF4A combined with β-catenin in the colitis-neoplastic sequence. A total of 69 samples, including 4 normal colon tissues, 16 sporadic colorectal cancer (CRC) tissues, 35 inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) tissues, and 14 IBD-associated low-grade dysplasia tissues, were collected to assess P1-/P2-driven HNF4A and β-catenin expressions by immunohistochemical assay. In addition, a colonic epithelial cell line Caco2 with stable P1-/P2-driven HNF4A knockdown was constructed. β-Catenin expression and skeleton structure were determined in the transfected cells by western blot analysis and immunofluorescence assay respectively. Increased expression of nuclear P1-/P2-driven HNF4A was observed in the colitis-associated colorectal neoplasm and sporadic CRC samples, compared with that in colitis samples. The parallel alterations between cytoplasmic β-catenin and nuclear P1-/P2-driven HNF4A were also verified. Silencing of P1-/P2-driven HNF4A expression in Caco2 cells decreased β-catenin expression and F-actin formation. Our results confirmed the elevated expressions of nuclear P1-/P2-driven HNF4A and cytoplasmic β-catenin in the colitis-neoplastic sequence, and both of them may be used as potential biomarkers to predict low-grade dysplasia.

中文翻译：

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HNF4A和β-catenin表达的免疫组织化学分析可预测结肠炎-肿瘤序列中的低度发育异常

摘要

动物研究表明，P1启动子驱动的肝细胞核因子4α（HFN4A）可以预防结肠炎的致癌作用。但是尚未完全研究总HNF4A蛋白的功能，并认为它参与了结肠炎-肿瘤序列。这项研究的目的是确定在结肠炎-肿瘤序列中，总P1- / P2-驱动的HNF4A与β-连环蛋白联合的临床价值。总共收集了69个样本，包括4个正常结肠组织，16个散发性结直肠癌（CRC）组织，35个炎性肠病（IBD）组织和14个与IBD相关的低度异型增生组织，以评估P1- / P2-免疫组织化学法检测HNF4A和β-catenin的表达 另外，构建了具有稳定的P1 / P2驱动的HNF4A敲低的结肠上皮细胞系Caco2。通过Western blot分析和免疫荧光法分别测定转染细胞中β-Catenin的表达和骨架结构。与结肠炎样品相比，在结肠炎相关的大肠肿瘤和散发性CRC样品中观察到核P1- / P2驱动的HNF4A表达增加。还验证了胞质β-catenin与核P1- / P2驱动的HNF4A之间的平行变化。Caco2细胞中P1 / P2驱动的HNF4A表达的沉默降低了β-catenin表达和F-actin的形成。我们的结果证实了在结肠炎-肿瘤序列中核P1- / P2-驱动的HNF4A和细胞质β-catenin的表达升高，并且它们都可以用作预测低度发育不良的潜在生物标记。