Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To study the correlation between hyaluronic acid (HA), hyaluronic acid synthase (HAS) and human renal clear cell carcinoma (RCCC). METHODS: The expression of three HAS isoforms' gene and HA in 93 RCCC tissues, 27 nephridial tissues by the side of RCCC from two hospitals were measured with Real-Time RT-PCR、Western Blot and immunohistochemical methods and analyzed. RESULTS: All RCCC and adjacent normal tissues expressed three HASs' mRNA & protein; at the mRNA level, both RCCC and adjacent normal tissues, expressed more HAS3 than HAS1 or HAS2, their differences were statistically significant (all P values <0.05); but, at the protein level, all HAS isoforms presented the equivalent expression. Compared with the adjacent non-neoplastic kidney tissues, the expression of all HAS isoforms' mRNA in RCCC tissues were increased evidently and their differences were significant (all P values <0.0001); but at the protein level, only the expression of HAS3 increased evidently (P=0.022). In all adjacent normal tissues, more than 80% renal tubular cells strongly expressed HA, however, only the minority RCCC cases (16/93) presented weakly positive HA staining in few cancer nests (5%-30%), the difference were significant (P<0.0001). In RCCC tissues subgrouped according to clinical stage, pathological grade, lymphatic metastasis or not and distant metastasis or not, the HASs' mRNA & protein differential expression all had no statistical significance (all P values >0.05). CONCLUSION: Different from other malignancy, HA and HASs (except for HAS3) may not play important roles in the biological progress of human RCCC.