In Situ Telomeric Repeat Amplification Protocol (TRAP) Detecting Telomerase Activity in Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma

In situ telomeric repeat amplification protocol (TRAP) assay was used to show the telomerase activity on the cryostat section of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) operation specimens from hepatitis B virus (HBV, N=5) or hepatitis C virus (HCV, N=5) positive patients. The non-cancerous areas of the specimens were used as controls. Hepatocytes in non-cancerous tissue showed no or weak telomerase activity. Hyperplastic and dysplastic liver cells showed telomerase activity. Telomerase activity was detected in 4/5 or 5/5 of the HCC specimens from HBV or HCV positive cases respectively. The intensity was moderate in 2 samples, weak in 2 samples and negative in 1 sample in the former cases; strong in 2 samples, and moderate in 3 samples in the latter cases. Telomerase activity was usually expressed in the cell nucleus. These findings suggest that telomerase is activated in the process of carcinogenesis of hepatocytes. Elevated telomerase activity is related to the carcino-genesis of hepatocellular carcinoma in HBV or HCV positive patients. We noticed that inflammatory cells and fibroblasts in the stroma of both cancerous and non-cancerous areas also displayed positive telomerase activity, indicating that this factor should be considered in data analyzing.