The roles of intermediate conductance Ca 2+ -activated K + channel (IKCa1) in the pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were investigated. Immunohistochemistry and Western blotting were used to detect the expression of IKCa1 protein in 50 HCC and 20 para-carcinoma tissue samples. Real-time PCR was used to detect the transcription level of IKCa1 mRNA in 13 HCC and 11 para-carcinoma tissue samples. The MTT assay was used to measure the function of IKCa1 in human HCC cell line HepG2 in vitro. TRAM-34, a specific blocker of IKCa1, was used to intervene with the function of IKCa1. As compared with para-carcinoma tissue, an over-expression of IKCa1 protein was detected in HCC tissue samples (P<0.05). The mRNA expression level of IKCa1 in HCC tissues was 2.17 times higher than that in para-carcinoma tissues. The proliferation of HepG2 cells was suppressed by TRAM-34 (0.5, 1.0, 2.0 and 4.0 μmol/L) in vitro (P<0.05). Our results suggested that IKCa1 may play a role in the proliferation of human HCC, and IKCa1 blockers may represent a potential therapeutic strategy for HCC.
