RESEARCH ARTICLE Gamma-Smooth Muscle Actin Expression Is Associated with Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition and Stem-Like Properties in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Background and Aims The prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is hampered by frequent tumour recur-rence and metastases. Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) is now recognized as a key process in tumour invasion, metastasis and the generation of cancer initiating cells. The morphological identification of EMT in tumour samples from the expression of novel mesen-chymal markers could provide relevant prognostic information and aid in understanding the metastatic process. Methods The expression of Smooth Muscle Actins was studied using immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry assays in cultured liver cells during an induced EMT process and in liver specimens from adult and paediatric HCC series. Results We report here that in HCC cell lines treated with TGF-β and in HCC specimens, the expres-sion of αSMA, a known mesenchymal marker of EMT, could never be detected. In addition