Syndecan-1 in Liver Diseases

Abstract

Liver diseases such as liver cirrhosis, primary and metastatic liver cancers are still a major medical challenge. Syndecan-1 is one of the most important proteoglycans in the liver. Syndecan-1 is normally expressed on the surfaces of hepatocytes and cholangiocytes. Due to liver diseases the amount of syndecan-1 increases in the liver. Despite the emerging data of the biological function of syndecan-1, the clinical usefulness of this proteoglycan is still unknown. In our study we correlated syndecan-1 expression to clinico-pathological data. We found that syndecan-1 proved to be a good marker for hepatitis C virus based hepatocellular carcinoma and increased with liver dysfunction.

Syndecan-1 Promotes Hepatocyte-Like Differentiation of Hepatoma Cells Targeting Ets-1 and AP-1

“…Liver cirrhosis is characterized by increased amounts of syndecan-1, and shed syndecan-1 has been experimentally shown to protect against fibrotic remodeling [ 56 ]. The significance of quantitative changes of syndecan-1 in liver cancer is still not clearly understood [ 57 ]. In the present study, we made an effort to investigate the importance of syndecan-1 in HCC, where loss of syndecan-1 was frequently observed and associated with poor prognosis.…”

Expression of Syndecan-1 in Chronic Liver Diseases: Correlation With Hepatic Fibrosis

“…Specifically, in intermediate and advanced stages of fibrosis, the staining intensity was significantly more robust than in early stages and the staining was gradually extended to almost the entire cell membrane, creating a honeycomb-like pattern. There are few reports in the international literature that describe in detail changes in the immunostaining pattern of syndecan-1 in liver disease compared to normal liver tissue (37,38). Syndecans have mainly heparan sulphate (HS) and some chondroitin sulphate GAG side chains on their extracellular domain, which consist of repeating disaccharide units that are attached to serine residues in the proteoglycan core proteins (11).…”

“…In our study, no correlation of syndecan-1 expression with patient age and sex nor with the etiology of liver fibrosis was demonstrated. However, syndecan-1 overexpression in hepatitis virus C-infected liver tissue has been described, suggesting syndecan-1 as a major receptor for hepatitis virus C internalization into hepatocytes (23,24,38).…”

It’s all about the spaces between cells: role of extracellular matrix in liver fibrosis

“…Cell adhesion to ECM is mediated by ECM receptors namely integrins, discoidin domain and syndecans. Syndecan-1 is normally expressed on the surface of hepatocytes and cholangiocytes, which increases in liver diseases and representing a good molecular marker for liver fibrosis induced by hepatitis C infection (15).…”