Diagnostic and Prognostic Value of Protein Post-Translational Modifications in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common malignant tumor with high incidence and cancer mortality worldwide. Post-translational modifications (PTMs) of proteins have a great impact on protein function. Almost all proteins can un-dergo PTMs, including phosphorylation, acetylation, methyla-tion, glycosylation, ubiquitination, and so on. Many studies have shown that PTMs are related to the occurrence and de-velopment of cancers. The findings provide novel therapeutic targets for cancers, such as glypican-3 and mucin-1. Other clinical implications are also found in the studies of PTMs. Diagnostic or prognostic value, and response to therapy have been identified. In HCC, it has been shown that glycosylated alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) has a higher detection rate for early liver cancer than conventional AFP. In this review, we mainly focused on the diagnostic and prognostic value of PTM, in order to provide new insights into the clinical implication of PTM in HCC.

Automated summary

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common malignant tumor with high incidence and cancer mortality worldwide. Post-translational modifications (PTMs) of proteins have been shown to play important roles in the occurrence and development of cancers, providing novel therapeutic targets and clinical implications. In HCC, glycosylated alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) has been found to have a higher detection rate for early liver cancer than conventional AFP, highlighting the diagnostic value of PTMs.