Serial analysis of gene expression in chronic hepatitis C and hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) causes chronic hepatitis C (CH-C) and is epidemiologically linked with the occurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). To elucidate the comprehensive gene expression profiles of CH-C and HCC, serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE) libraries were made from CH-C and HCC tissues of a patient, and compared with a reported SAGE library of a normal liver (NL). Scatter plots of the distribution of tags from the HCC library exhibited the existence of many differentially expressed genes compared with those from the CH-C and NL libraries. Up-regulation of IFN-gamma inducible genes and oxidative stress-inducible genes were identified in both the CH-C and HCC libraries, and some unpublished new genes were specifically up- or down-regulated in the HCC library. This genome-wide scanning study discloses the molecular portraits of CH-C and HCC, and provides novel candidate genes that should help clarify the mechanism of hepatocarcinogenesis in the chronically HCV-infected liver.