scholarly journals MiR-424-5p reversed epithelial-mesenchymal transition of anchorage-independent HCC cells by directly targeting ICAT and suppressed HCC progression

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Zhang ◽  
Tao Li ◽  
Pengbo Guo ◽  
Jia Kang ◽  
Qing Wei ◽  
...  
2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (11) ◽  
pp. 5543
Author(s):  
Jitka Soukupova ◽  
Andrea Malfettone ◽  
Esther Bertran ◽  
María Isabel Hernández-Alvarez ◽  
Irene Peñuelas-Haro ◽  
...  

(1) Background: The transforming growth factor (TGF)-β plays a dual role in liver carcinogenesis. At early stages, it inhibits cell growth and induces apoptosis. However, TGF-β expression is high in advanced stages of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and cells become resistant to TGF-β induced suppressor effects, responding to this cytokine undergoing epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT), which contributes to cell migration and invasion. Metabolic reprogramming has been established as a key hallmark of cancer. However, to consider metabolism as a therapeutic target in HCC, it is necessary to obtain a better understanding of how reprogramming occurs, which are the factors that regulate it, and how to identify the situation in a patient. Accordingly, in this work we aimed to analyze whether a process of full EMT induced by TGF-β in HCC cells induces metabolic reprogramming. (2) Methods: In vitro analysis in HCC cell lines, metabolomics and transcriptomics. (3) Results: Our findings indicate a differential metabolic switch in response to TGF-β when the HCC cells undergo a full EMT, which would favor lipolysis, increased transport and utilization of free fatty acids (FFA), decreased aerobic glycolysis and an increase in mitochondrial oxidative metabolism. (4) Conclusions: EMT induced by TGF-β in HCC cells reprograms lipid metabolism to facilitate the utilization of FFA and the entry of acetyl-CoA into the TCA cycle, to sustain the elevated requirements of energy linked to this process.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bin Yang ◽  
Chunping Wang ◽  
Hui Xie ◽  
Yiwu Wang ◽  
Jiagan Huang ◽  
...  

Abstract Molecular targeted agents, such as sorafenib, remain the only choice of an antitumor drug for the treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The Notch signaling pathway plays central roles in regulating the cellular injury/stress response, anti-apoptosis, or epithelial–mesenchymal transition process in HCC cells, and is a promising target for enhancing the sensitivity of HCC cells to antitumor agents. The ADAM metalloprotease domain-17 (ADAM-17) mediates the cleavage and activation of Notch protein. In the present study, microRNA-3163 (miR-3163), which binds to the 3′-untranslated region of ADAM-17, was screened using online methods. miRDB and pre-miR-3163 sequences were prepared into lentivirus particles to infect HCC cells. miR-3163 targeted ADAM-17 and inhibited the activation of the Notch signaling pathway. Infection of HCC cells with miR-3163 enhanced their sensitivity to molecular targeted agents, such as sorafenib. Therefore, miR-3163 may contribute to the development of more effective strategies for the treatment of advanced HCC.


2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (9) ◽  
pp. 4770-4780 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hao Jiang ◽  
Hui-Jun Cao ◽  
Ning Ma ◽  
Wen-Dai Bao ◽  
Jing-Jing Wang ◽  
...  

Recurrence and metastasis remain the major obstacles to successful treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Chromatin remodeling factor ARID2 is commonly mutated in HCC, indicating its important role in cancer development. However, its role in HCC metastasis is largely elusive. In this study, we find that ARID2 expression is significantly decreased in metastatic HCC tissues, showing negative correlation with pathological grade, organ metastasis and positive association with survival of HCC patients. ARID2 inhibits migration and invasion of HCC cells in vitro and metastasis in vivo. Moreover, ARID2 knockout promotes pulmonary metastasis in different HCC mouse models. Mechanistic study reveals that ARID2 represses epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) of HCC cells by recruiting DNMT1 to Snail promoter, which increases promoter methylation and inhibits Snail transcription. In addition, we discover that ARID2 mutants with disrupted C2H2 domain lose the metastasis suppressor function, exhibiting a positive association with HCC metastasis and poor prognosis. In conclusion, our study reveals the metastasis suppressor role as well as the underlying mechanism of ARID2 in HCC and provides a potential therapeutic target for ARID2-deficient HCC.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rahul Sreekumar ◽  
Muhammad Emaduddin ◽  
Hajir Al-Saihati ◽  
Karwan Moutasim ◽  
James Chan ◽  
...  

Abstract Epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a process by which tumour cells lose epithelial characteristics, become mesenchymal and highly motile. EMT pathways also induce stem cell features and resistance to apoptosis. Identifying and targeting this pool of tumour cells is a major challenge. Protein kinase C (PKC) inhibition has been shown to eliminate breast cancer stem cells but has never been assessed in hepatocellular cancer (HCC). We investigated ZEB family of EMT inducer expression as a biomarker for metastatic HCC and evaluated the efficacy of PKC inhibitors for HCC treatment. We showed that ZEB1 positivity predicted patient survival in multiple cohorts and also validated as an independent biomarker of HCC metastasis. ZEB1-expressing HCC cell lines became resistant to conventional chemotherapeutic agents and were enriched in CD44high/CD24low cell population. ZEB1- or TGFβ-induced EMT increased PKCα abundance. Probing public databases ascertained a positive association of ZEB1 and PKCα expression in human HCC tumours. Inhibition of PKCα activity by small molecule inhibitors or by PKCA knockdown reduced viability of mesenchymal HCC cells in vitro and in vivo. Our results suggest that ZEB1 expression predicts survival and metastatic potential of HCC. Chemoresistant/mesenchymal HCC cells become addicted to PKC pathway and display sensitivity to PKC inhibitors such as UCN-01. Stratifying patients according to ZEB1 and combining UCN-01 with conventional chemotherapy may be an advantageous chemotherapeutic strategy.


Cancers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 2734
Author(s):  
Keita Kanki ◽  
Ryota Watanabe ◽  
Le Nguyen Thai ◽  
Chun-Hao Zhao ◽  
Kyoko Naito

Aberrant activation of histone deacetylases (HDACs) is one of the causes of tumor cell transformation in many types of cancer, however, the critical HDAC responsible for the malignant transformation remain unclear. To identify the HDAC related to the dedifferentiation of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells, we investigated the expression profile of HDACs in differentiated and undifferentiated hepatoma cells. We found that HDAC9, a member of the class II HDAC, is preferentially expressed in undifferentiated HCC cells. Analysis of 373 HCC patients in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database revealed that the expression of HDAC9 mRNA positively correlated with the markers of mesenchymal phenotype and stemness, and conversely, negatively correlated with hepatic differentiation markers. HDAC9 was transcriptionally upregulated in epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT)-induced HCC cells treated with TGF-β. Genetic and pharmacological inhibition of HDAC9 in undifferentiated HCC cells showed decreased sphere-forming activity, which indicates an ability of anchorage-independent cell growth and self-renewal. We also showed that aldehyde dehydrogenase 1A3 (ALDH1A3) was downregulated in HDAC9-suppressing cells, and ALDH inhibitor disulfiram significantly decreased the sphere formation of undifferentiated HCC cells. Together, our data provide useful information for the development of HDAC9-specific inhibitors for the treatment of HCC progression.


2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 130-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kai Zhu ◽  
Yuanfei Peng ◽  
Jinwu Hu ◽  
Hao Zhan ◽  
Liuxiao Yang ◽  
...  

Abstract Accumulating data suggest that metadherin (MTDH) may function as an oncogene. Our previous study showed that MTDH promotes hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) metastasis via the epithelial-mesenchymal transition. In this study, we aim to further elucidate how MTDH promotes HCC metastasis. Using Co-immunoprecipitation (co-IP) and mass spectrometry, we found that MTDH can specifically bind to protein arginine methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5). Further functional assays revealed that PRMT5 overexpression promoted the proliferation and motility of HCC cells and that knockout of PRMT5 impeded the effect of MTDH. The immunohistochemistry assay/tissue microarray results showed that when MTDH was overexpressed in HCC cells, PRMT5 translocated from the nucleus to the cytoplasm, with the subsequent translocation of β-catenin from the cytoplasm to the nucleus and upregulation of the WNT–β-catenin signaling pathway. Further in vivo experiments suggested that PRMT5 and β-catenin played a pivotal role in MTDH-mediated HCC metastasis. We therefore concluded that the MTDH–PRMT5 complex promotes HCC metastasis by regulating the WNT–β-catenin signaling pathway.


2011 ◽  
Vol 310 (2) ◽  
pp. 140-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chihiro Yokomizo ◽  
Kanji Yamaguchi ◽  
Yoshito Itoh ◽  
Takeshi Nishimura ◽  
Atsushi Umemura ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Min Yao ◽  
Li Wang ◽  
Xiyu Chen ◽  
Ying Chen ◽  
Jie Yang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Invasion and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) still remain to be hard in medical society. However, little knowledge is known regarding the hypoxia impact in HCC with angiogenesis and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). The aims of this study were to explore the regulating roles of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) in angiogenesis and EMT of HCC. Method: The levels of HIF-1α, angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in a cohort of chronic liver diseases were detected by enzyme- linked immunosorbent assays, and their dynamic up-regulations were confirmed in model of rat hepatocyte malignant transformation. After HIF-1α gene transfected with specific miRNA, biological behaviors of HCC cells were analyzed by transwell or invasion assay; angiogenesis and EMT were analyzed at protein level by Western blot or at mRNA by quantitative real-time PCR. Results: The levels of circulating HIF-1α, VEGF, and Ang-2 in the HCC group (145.6 ± 32.6 μg/L, 458.9 ± 125.3 μg/L, and 42.9 ± 5.1μg/L) were significantly higher (P < 0.001) than those in the LC (79.5 ± 8.4 μg/L, 206.8 ± 56.8 μg/L, and 26.2 ± 6.1 μg/L) or the CH (60.1 ± 18.8 μg/L, 178.1 ± 85.4 μg/L, and 21.8 ± 6.9 μg/L) group, respectively. Dynamic up-regulations of HIF-1α and angiogenic factors have been confirmed by rat model with hepatocyte malignant transformation. There were closely positive correlations (P < 0.001) between them of HIF-1α and VEGF or Ang-2. After HCC cells transfected with specific HIF-1α-miRNA, the levels of HIF-1α, VEGF and Ang-2 expression were significantly down-regulated, with inhibiting infiltration or migration, blockading EMT with increasing E-cadherin and decreasing of snail, twist and vimentin. Conclusions: HIF-1α over-expression could promote the metastasis or invasion of HCC via regulating neovascularization and EMT formation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yinying Dong ◽  
Qiongdan Zheng ◽  
Zhiming Wang ◽  
Xiahui Lin ◽  
Yang You ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Increased liver stiffness exerts a detrimental role in driving hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) malignancy and progression, and indicates a high risk of unfavorable outcomes. However, it remains largely unknown how liver matrix stiffness as an independent cue triggers epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and facilitates HCC metastasis. Methods Buffalo rat HCC models with different liver stiffness backgrounds and an in vitro Col I-coated cell culture system with tunable stiffness were used in the study to explore the effects of matrix stiffness on EMT occurrence and its underlying molecular mechanism. Clinical significance of liver stiffness and key molecules required for stiffness-induced EMT were validated in HCC cohorts with different liver stiffness. Results HCC xenografts grown in higher stiffness liver exhibited worse malignant phenotypes and higher lung metastasis rate, suggesting that higher liver stiffness promotes HCC invasion and metastasis. Cell tests in vitro showed that higher matrix stiffness was able to strikingly strengthen malignant phenotypes and independently induce EMT occurrence in HCC cells, and three signaling pathways converging on Snail expression participated in stiffness-mediated effect on EMT including integrin-mediated S100A11 membrane translocation, eIF4E phosphorylation, and TGF β1 autocrine. Additionally, the key molecules required for stiffness-induced EMT were highly expressed in tumor tissues of HCC patients with higher liver stiffness and correlated with poor tumor differentiation and higher recurrence. Conclusions Higher matrix stiffness as an initiator triggers epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in HCC cells independently, and three signaling pathways converging on Snail expression contribute to this pathological process. This work highlights a significant role of biomechanical signal in triggering EMT and facilitating HCC invasion and metastasis.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenbiao Chen ◽  
Donge Tang ◽  
Dongxin Tang ◽  
Yong Dai

Abstract Inactivation of tumor suppressor gene played critical roles in the development and progression of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Zic family member 4 (ZIC4) is transcription factor and plays an important role in the developmental process. However, the expression and biological role of ZIC4 in HCC is poorly understood. Here, bioinformatics analysis based on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database revealed an aberrant hypermethylation of ZIC4 in HCC. ZIC4 is frequently hypermethylated in promoter region and down expressed in HCC cells and tissues. Functionally, ZIC4 inhibition facilitated the proliferation, migration, invasion, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in vitro and in vivo. Conversely, ZIC4 overexpression reduced proliferation and invasiveness of HCC cells. In addition, ZIC4 inhibition rescued the antitumor effect induced by enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) knockdown or EZH2 inhibitor. Mechanistically, EZH2 knockdown or EZH2 inhibitor reduced the enrichment of EZH2 and H3K27me3 in ZIC4 promoter region and leading to the upregulation of ZIC4. Altogether, these data indicate that epigenetic silencing of ZIC4 by EZH2 mediated H3K27me3 is an important mechanism in HCC and provide a new therapeutic target for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma disease.


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