Expression of MAPK and PI3K/AKT/mTOR Proteins according to the Chronic Liver Disease Etiology in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Figure 3

Relative RNA expression of some pathway proteins in tumor tissue according to the etiology of the underlying chronic liver disease. The data are normalized for the level of GAPDH and expressed as 2^−ΔCt. ΔCt refers to the difference between Ct of GAPDH and Ct of primer analyzed per sample. The results are expressed as median (interquartile range), three technical replicates per sample. (a) BRAF 0.423 (0.003–0.573), n = 8/8; 0.222 (0.052–0.722), n = 7/8; 0.183 (0.043–0.604), n = 8/10; . (b) ERK1 0.182 (0.008–0.281), n = 4/8; median NA, n = 3/8; 1.041 (0.064–18.480), n = 4/10; p = =0.08. (c) ERK2 0.033 (0.006–0.633), n = 4/8; 0.125 (0.037–NA), n = 3/8; 0.375 (0.006–0.744), n = 4/10; . (d) PI3K 0.007 (0.002–0.383), n = 4/8; 0.188 (0.006–0.308), n = 4/8; median NA, n = 2/10; . All data refer to cryptogenic, ethanolic, and HCV etiologic groups, respectively. Comparisons were performed among the three groups (Kruskal–Wallis test) or between two groups (Mann–Whitney U test), and no differences were detected. It was impossible to extract RNA from the hepatitis B virus etiology and data are not shown. AKT and mTOR were also tested, but the relative RNA expression was not specifically labeled, and the data could not be shown. GAPDH, glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase; HCV, hepatitis C virus, Ct, cycle threshold; CLD, chronic liver disease; NA, not available.

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