Expression data from mouse liver

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a deadly disease, often unnoticed till the late stages, where treatment options become limited. Thus, there is a critical need to identify early biomarkers for detection of the developing HCC, as well as molecular pathways that would be amenable to therapeutic intervention. While efforts using human serum and tissues from late stage patients have been undertaken, progress has been limited. We have therefore explored the possibility of utilizing established mouse models for the discovery of biomarkers, as well as to understand in a systematic manner the molecular pathways that are progressively deregulated by the various etiological factors in contributing to HCC formation. As an initial effort, we have used the Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) transgenic mice as a hepatitis model, which have been exposed to aflatoxin B1 (AFB1). In this report, we present the initial findings from a extensive longitudinal study, which confirms the synergistic effect of both these etiological factors, with a gender bias towards male mice. Tumors from the mouse models were validated both histologically as well as by molecular transcriptome analysis by comparison with human HCCs. In addition, using these models, we have identified carnitine as a novel biomarker for HCC development, which was again validated using human HCC samples. Conclusion: This study therefore highlights the utility of these mouse models in identifying biomarkers for detection of human HCCs, as well as for the systematic analysis of molecular pathways that are affected by various etiological agents during the progression of HCC from an untransformed hepatocyte, which could provide novel options for targeted therapy.

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Teoh WW, Xie M, Vijayaraghavan A, Yaligar J, Tong WM, Goh LK, Sabapathy K