N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase III and V messenger RNA levels in LEC rats during hepatocarcinogenesis

The LEC (Long-Evans with a cinnamon-like color) rat is a mutant of the Long-Evans strain which develops hereditary hepatitis and hepatoma with age. Activities and mRNA levels of N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase III and V (GnT-III and GnT-V, respectively) were determined during hepatocarcinogenesis in this rat using a LEA (Long-Evans with an agouti color) rat as a control. GnT-III activity in LEC rat liver increased after 30 weeks of age, at the stage of chronic hepatitis, to about 2.5-11.5 times the level in LEC rats aged 1-9 weeks. GnT-V activity in the LEC rat liver increased after 20 weeks of age, at the stage of acute hepatitis, to about 1.5-2.5 times the level in LEC rats of 1-9 weeks of age and then remained elevated. Both enzymes showed more dramatic increases in males than in females. The mRNA levels of the enzymes increased in proportion with the enzyme activities. Furthermore, GnT-III and GnT-V mRNAs were highly expressed in both cancer lesion and adjacent tissues. In one case of hepatoma with lymph node metastasis, GnT-III and GnT-V mRNA expression was much higher in the metastatic lesion than in the original cancer. GnT-III and GnT-V levels in the original cancer lesions were similar to those in the cancer lesions of the other LEC rats. These results indicated that expression of GnT-III and GnT-V was induced by chronic liver damage and hepatocarcinogenic changes in the LEC rats.