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Letter to Editor  |  Open Access  |  4 Aug 2016

Hepatocellular carcinoma and type 2 diabetes mellitus: cytokeratin 8/18 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma and glycogen-storing hepatocytes

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Hepatoma Res 2016;2:229-30.
10.20517/2394-5079.2016.26 |  © 2016 Hepatoma Research
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Sir,

We have reported two patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), who showed abundant glycogen in their liver parenchyma but a marked reduction of glycogen content in HCC.[1] It was suggested that the latter was associated with appearance of a Warburg type glycolysis[1] and discussed in some detail.[2]

Cytokeratins (CKs), the intermediate filament (IF) proteins of epithelia, are sub-divided into type I (CK9-20) and type II (CK1-8) and expressed as type I/II pairs in a cell differentiation manner. In adult liver, hepatocyte IF comprise only CK8/18.[3] CK8/18 expression in normal and diseased liver has been reported, including positive expression in alcoholic steatohepatitis (ASH) and/or non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and HCC.[3]

We examined the expression of CK8/18 in the liver to investigate cytoskeletal alterations in hepatocytes, possibly related to changes in hepatocellular glycogen content during hepatocarcinogenesis. Our studies revealed that immunoreactivity for CK8/18 was reduced or frequently even negative in glycogen-rich hepatocytes of background liver [Figure 1b and d], but moderately positive in normal hepatocytes and glycogen-poor cells in HCC [Figure 1a, c, e and f]. Overexpression of CK8/18, as Malory Denk bodies, which are hallmark lesions in ASH and NASH,[3] was not detected [Figure 1b and d]. The results provide evidence for reduced to negative CK8/18 expression in glycogen-rich hepatocytes.

Hepatocellular carcinoma and type 2 diabetes mellitus: cytokeratin 8/18 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma and glycogen-storing hepatocytes

Figure 1. CK8/18 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma (a; case 1, c; case 2, e; control) and background liver (b; case1, d; case 2, f; control), demonstrated with mouse monoclonal antibodies B22.1/B23.1 (Cell Marque, USA) and visualized using the Envision method (Dako) (a-f, ×400). Control (a 79-year-old male, moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma in background of nearly normal liver)

The mechanism of alteration of CK8/18 expression in glycogen-rich hepatocytes has not been elucidated. Su et al.[4] demonstrated that CK8/18 expression was reduced in excessively glycogen-storing (glycogenotic) clear hepatocytes, which also showed a relative reduction of cytoplasmic organelles as demonstrated by electron-microscopic studies. Given simple CK8/18 expression patterns, hepatocytes are sensitive to alterations of cytokeratin architecture.[3] Using hepatic cell culture systems, Mathew et al.[5] reported recently that CK8/18 is involved in the interplay between glucose utilization and insulin signaling. The authors demonstrated that insulin stimulates glucose uptake, glucose-6-phosphatase formation, lactate release, and glycogen formation in hepatocytes via the PI-3 kinase dependent signaling pathway, and that CK8/18 IF loss makes them more efficient glycogen producers.[5] This is in line with the notion that an insulinomimetic effect of oncogenic agents is responsible for the preneoplastic hepatocellular glycogenosis,[2] which is associated with a reduced or negative expression of CK 8/18 in glycogenotic clear cells appearing in chronic human and woodchuck hepadnaviral infection.[4] CK8/18 immunohistochemistry may allow distinct recognition of the glycogen-rich hepatocytes as shown in glycogenotic clear cells under various conditions.[4]

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REFERENCES

1. Takegoshi K, Okada E, Nomoto K, Nobata K, Sawasaki T, Terada M, Terakawa H, Kobayashi T, Yabushita K, Sugimoto T, Terahata S. Hepatocellular carcinoma and type 2 diabetes mellitus: two cases highlighting changes in tumor glycogen content. Hepatoma Res 2016;2:26-30.

2. Bannasch P, Klimek F, Mayer D. Early bioenergetic changes in hepatocarcinogenesis: preneoplastic phenotypes mimic responses to insulin and thyroid hormone. J Bioenerg Biomembr 1997;29:303-13.

3. Strnad P, Paschke S, Jang KH, Ku NO. Keratins: markers and modulators of liver disease. Curr Opin Gastroenterol 2012;28:209-16.

4. Su Q, Zerban H, Otto G, Bannasch P. Cytokeratin expression is reduced in glycogenotic clear hepatocytes but increased in ground-glass cells in chronic human and woodchuck hepadnaviral infection. Hepatology 1998;28:347-59.

5. Mathew J, Loranger A, Gilbert S, Faure R, Marceau N. Keratin 8/18 regulation of glucose metabolism in normal versus cancerous hepatic cells through differential modulation of hexokinase status and insulin signaling. Exp Cell Res 2013;319:474-86.

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OAE Style

Takegoshi K, Okada E, Su Q. Hepatocellular carcinoma and type 2 diabetes mellitus: cytokeratin 8/18 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma and glycogen-storing hepatocytes. Hepatoma Res 2016;2:229-30. http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2394-5079.2016.26

AMA Style

Takegoshi K, Okada E, Su Q. Hepatocellular carcinoma and type 2 diabetes mellitus: cytokeratin 8/18 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma and glycogen-storing hepatocytes. Hepatoma Research. 2016; 2: 229-30. http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2394-5079.2016.26

Chicago/Turabian Style

Takegoshi, Kunio, Eikichi Okada, Qin Su. 2016. "Hepatocellular carcinoma and type 2 diabetes mellitus: cytokeratin 8/18 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma and glycogen-storing hepatocytes" Hepatoma Research. 2: 229-30. http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2394-5079.2016.26

ACS Style

Takegoshi, K.; Okada E.; Su Q. Hepatocellular carcinoma and type 2 diabetes mellitus: cytokeratin 8/18 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma and glycogen-storing hepatocytes. Hepatoma. Res. 2016, 2, 229-30. http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2394-5079.2016.26

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