Des-γ-Carboxy Prothrombin (DCP) as a Potential Autologous Growth Factor for the Development of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Des-γ-carboxy prothrombin (DCP) is a prothrombin precursor produced in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Because of deficiency of vitamin K or γ-glutamyl carboxylase in HCC cells, the 10 glutamic acid (Glu) residues in prothrombin precursor did not completely carboxylate to γ-carboxylated glutamic acid (Gla) residues, leaving some Glu residues remained in N-terminal domain. These prothrombin precursors with Glu residues are called DCPs. DCP displays insufficient coagulation activity. Since Liebman reported an elevated plasma DCP in patients with HCC, DCP has been used in the diagnosis of HCC. Recently, its biological malignant potential has been specified to describe DCP as an autologous growth factor to stimulate HCC growth and a paracrine factor to integrate HCC with vascular endothelial cells. DCP was found to stimulate HCC growth through activation of the DCP-Met-JAK1-STAT3 signaling pathway. DCP might increase HCC invasion and metastasis through activation of matrix metalloproteinase (MMPs) and the ERK1/2 MAPK signaling pathway. DCP has also been found to play a crucial role in the formation of angiogenesis. DCP could increase the angiogenic factors released from HCC and vascular endothelial cells. These effects of DCP in angiogenesis might be related to activation of the DCP-KDR-PLC-γ-MAPK signaling pathway. In this article, we summarized recent studies on DCP in biological roles related to cancer progression and angiogenesis in HCC.