Glypican-3 is a protein that, in humans, is encoded by the GPC3 gene. The protein core of GPC3 consists of two subunits, where the N-terminal subunit has a size of ~40 kDa and the C-terminal subunit is ~30 kDa. GPC3 has been found to regulate Wnt/β-catenin and Yap signaling pathways. GPC3 interacts with both Wnt and frizzled (FZD) to form a complex and triggers downstream signaling. Glypican 3 immunostaining has utility for differentiating hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and dysplastic changes in cirrhotic livers; HCC stains with glypican 3, while liver with dysplastic changes and/or cirrhotic changes does not. GPC3 is also expressed to a lesser degree in melanoma, ovarian clear-cell carcinomas, yolk sac tumors, neuroblastoma, hepatoblastoma, Wilms' tumor cells, and other tumors. However, the significance of GPC3 as a diagnostic tool for human tumors other than HCC is unclear.
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