Expressions of SE-1, CD31 and CD105 in the vascular endothelial cells and serum of rat with hepatocellular carcinoma

Background Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the deadliest cancers worldwide. In order to investigate the molecular biologic mechanism of HCC's development, we studied the expressions of SE-1, CD105 and CD31 in tumor endothelial cells (TECs) of HCC and in the serum of rats. Methods We analyzed the expressions of SE-1, CD31 and CD105 in rat HCC tumor tissues using immunohistochemistry (IHC). Twenty HCC bearing rats and eighteen normal rats were examined for the expressions of SE-1, CD31 and CD105 antigens in serum by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results SE-1, CD31 and CD105 antigens were detected both in HCC tissue and in normal liver tissue with higher expressions of CD31 and CD105 in HCC while the SE-1 antigen expression was higher in normal liver. Similarly, serum CD31 and CD105 in rats with HCC were significantly increased compared with normal rats ( t =2.8628, P =0.0086; t =4.4922, P <0.0001, respectively). In contrast, SE-1 antigen in HCC rat serum was significantly decreased compared with normal rats ( t =3.4983, P =0.0011). Conclusion SE-1, CD31 and CD105 are closely related with liver tumor angiogenesis, which is similar to their performances in terms of their expressions in the serum.