Expression of maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase (melk) correlates to malignant potentials in hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

Background/Aim: Maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase (MELK) is categorized as a member of AMPactivated protein kinase families. Various MELK-associated cellular and biological processes affect multiple stages of tumorigenesis. The aim of the present study was to clarify the relationship between MELK expression and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) clinicopathological features. Materials and Methods: In thirty conserved frozen primary HCC and non-HCC samples MELK mRNA expression was examined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results: HCC tissues exhibited significantly higher expression levels compared to non-cancerous tissues. MELK expression had a statistically parallel correlation between tumor diameter and protein induced by vitamin absence or antagonist (PIVKA-II). The overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) of the low MELK mRNA expression group was significantly longer than that of the high MELK mRNA expression group. Conclusion: MELK expression in HCC is extremely intense compared to its expression reported in other types of cancer. MELK could be a promising effective tumor marker of HCC and further consideration is needed.