Increased Expression of Epithelial Cell Adhesion Molecule (EpCAM) in Rat Hepatic Tumors Induced by Diethylnitrosamine

Abstract

The epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) is a pan-epithelial differentiation antigen that is expressed on almost all carcinomas. However, a role in rat liver carcinogenesis has never been reported previously. Thus, its expression was investigated herein in rat liver tumors induced by diethylnitrosamine (DEN). Twenty male 5-week-old F344 rats were used in this experiment. Mini-osmotic pumps containing doses of 47.5 mg of DEN were inserted into the abdominal cavity of each animal to initiate liver carcinogenesis. All animals were sacrificed at 26 weeks after DEN treatment. At necropsy, hepatic masses were processed for histopathological examination, which revealed forty-four hepatocellular adenomas (HCAs) and twenty hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC). Tumors were immunohistochemically analyzed for EpCAM, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and co-localization of the two.

Preventive Effect of Hydrazinocurcumin on Carcinogenesis of Diethylnitrosamine-induced Hepatocarcinoma in Male SD Rats

“…Animal models can be used to simulate carcinogenesis and development of human hepatocarcinoma and to study its molecular mechanism and intervention (Kang, 2012). SD rat has been widely accepted to be very similar to human hepatocarcinoma, making this model ideal for hepatocarcinoma studies (Sreepriya et al, 2005).…”

Transcriptome‑wide piRNA profiling in human gastric cancer

“…Twenty-two of these 34 (23+11) protein-coding genes (64.7%) were expressed in stomach, and 18 piRNAs were located in 15 piRNA clusters, 10 of which were located in intergenic regions. Seventeen (77.2%) of these 22 protein-coding stomach genes have been related to various human cancers in the literature, including gastric cancer ( 6 – 8 ), colon cancer ( 45 – 50 ), colorectal cancer ( 51 – 53 ), pancreatic cancer ( 54 – 56 ), hepatocellular carcinoma ( 57 – 59 ) and bladder cancer ( 60 ) ( Table SI ).…”