products of oncogenes or tumor repression genes including c-fos , c-myc , p53 and Rb and its alteration of distributive area in the cells treated by HMBA. CONCLUSION: These data confirm that PHB is a nuclear matrix protein, which is located in the nuclear matrix, and the distribution and expression of PHB and its relation with associated genes may play significant roles during the differentiation of SMMC-7721 cells.
INTRODUCTIONProhibitin (PHB) is a tumor suppressor protein that is expressed in a variety of cell lines. It is not only localized to the inner membrane of mitochondria, where it acts as a chaperone protein, but is also present in the nucleus where it negatively regulates transcription. PHB plays important roles in the regulation of cell growth, proliferation, differentiation, aging and apoptosis. It is also involved in the genesis of tumor and some degenerative diseases [1][2][3] . In cell differentiation, some studies have found that the expression level of PHB was very low in rapidly proliferating cells, whereas it was much higher in cells undergoing differentiation. This indicates that PHB may promote cell differentiation and suppress cell proliferation [4] . Heretofore, overexpression of PHB has been found in various tumor cells. This seems to be conflictive with its tumor suppressive function. So far, the mechanism of its subcellular localization, nuclear transportation and regulation of cell proliferation and differentiation are Abstract AIM: To explore the existence and distribution of prohibitin (PHB) in nuclear matrix and its co-localization with products of some related genes during the differentiation of human hepatocarcinoma SMMC-7721 cells.
METHODS:The nuclear matrix of the SMMC-7721 cells cultured with or without 5 × 10 -3 mmol/L hexamethylene bisacetamide (HMBA) was selectively extracted.Western blot was used to analyze the expression of PHB in nuclear matrix; immunofluorescence microscope observation was used to analyze the distribution of PHB in cell. LCSM was used to observe the co-localization of PHB with products of oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. RESULTS: Western blot analysis showed that PHB existed in the composition of nuclear matrix proteins a n d wa s d o w n -re g u l a t e d b y H M B A t re a t m e n t . Immunofluorescence observation revealed that PHB existed in the nuclear matrix, and its distribution regions and expression levels were altered after HMBA treatment. Laser scanning confocal microscopy revealed the co-localization between PHB and the