To explore the existence and distribution of nucleophosmin in the nuclear matrix and its co-localization with the other related gene products following HMBA treatment in the human hepatocarcinoma SMMC-7721 cells,the nuclear matrix of SMMC-7721 cells was extracted pre/post HMBA induced differentiation.2D PAGE proteomics analyses showed that nucleophosmin existed in the fractions of nuclear matrix proteins and was down-regulated after HMBA treatment with further confirmation by Western blot analysis.The immunofluorescence observation revealed that nucleophosmin located in the nuclear matrix,HMBA treatment altered its expression level and distribution profile.The co-localization of nucleophosmin with cancer-related genes and the products of oncogenes or tumor repression genes,including c-fos,c-myc,p53 and Rb,using laser scanning confocal microscopy,were evaluated,and substantial differences were observed following HMBA treatment.The results implies that nucleophosmin,as a nuclear matrix protein,the level of its expression and the colocalization with cancer-related gene products may play an important role during the differentiation of SMMC-7721 cell.
