XIANG Hongª²Jun, DOU Keª²Feng, WANG Deª²Sheng, YANG Yanª²Ling, LIU Zhengª²Cai, CHEN Yong

    Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi¬ðan 710033, China

    ¡¾Abstract¡¿AIM: To assess whether A2b adenosine receptor is differentially expressed in malignant tissues and evaluate A2b adenosine receptor level in hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC). METHODS: We determined the expression of A2b adenosine receptor protein by immunohistochemistry and Western blot and evaluated the expression levels of A2b adenosine receptor mRNA by using realª²time quantitative PCR analysis in surgical samples of 38 HCC cases and in their paired adjacent noncancerous tissues. RESULTS: Immunohistochemistry showed a high expression of A2b adenosine receptor in human HCC. The levels of A2b adenosine receptor mRNA by realª²time PCR in HCC were significantly higher than those in adjacent tissues (P<0.001). Weston blot analysis revealed the intensity of A2b adenosine receptor protein expression was constantly much higher in HCC than that in adjacent tissues normalized to ¦Âª²actin levels in an arbitrary unit. CONCLUSION: A2b adenosine receptor expression appeared upª²regulated in HCC, and it might be a new target molecule for HCC therapeutic strategy. ......