Somatic mutations of the β-catenin gene are frequent in mouse and human hepatocellular carcinomas

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Abstract
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the major primary malignant tumor in the human liver, but the molecular changes leading to liver cell transformation remain largely unknown. The Wnt-β-catenin pathway is activated in colon cancers and some melanoma cell lines, but has not yet been investigated in HCC. We have examined the status of the β-catenin gene in different transgenic mouse lines of HCC obtained with the oncogenes c- myc or H- ras . Fifty percent of the hepatic tumors in these transgenic mice had activating somatic mutations within the β-catenin gene similar to those found in colon cancers and melanomas. These alterations in the β-catenin gene (point mutations or deletions) lead to a disregulation of the signaling function of β-catenin and thus to carcinogenesis. We then analyzed human HCCs and found similar mutations in eight of 31 (26%) human liver tumors tested and in HepG2 and HuH6 hepatoma cells. The mutations led to the accumulation of β-catenin in the nucleus. Thus alterations in the β-catenin gene frequently are selected for during liver tumorigenesis and suggest that disregulation of the Wnt-β-catenin pathway is a major event in the development of HCC in humans and mice.