Chondroitin polymerizing factor (CHPF) contributes to malignant proliferation and migration of hepatocellular carcinoma cells

2020 ◽  
Vol 98 (3) ◽  
pp. 362-369
Author(s):  
Qigang Xu ◽  
Wei Lin ◽  
Chonglin Tao ◽  
Xiaming Huang ◽  
Junjian Li

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignant tumors in the human digestive system, and has been recognized as a serious threat to public health worldwide. This study explored the role of chondroitin polymerizing factor (CHPF) in the development and metastasis of HCC. Immunohistochemistry analysis was performed to detect CHPF expression in HCC tissues and para-carcinoma tissues. qRT-PCR and Western blot analysis were used to determine the mRNA and protein expression of CHPF. MTT assays, colony formation assays, and flow cytometry were used to evaluate the cell proliferation, colony formation, and cell apoptosis, respectively. Wound-healing and Transwell assays were performed to evaluate cell migration. The results show that CHPF was not only up-regulated in HCC tissues compared with para-carcinoma tissues, but was also related with more advanced stages of HCC. Further studies revealed that CHPF knockdown significantly inhibited cell proliferation and colony formation, and induce cell apoptosis of HCC cells. Moreover, suppressing the expression of CHPF reduced the migration and invasiveness of HCC cells. In conclusion, we demonstrated that CHPF plays important roles in the development and progression of HCC, and high expression levels of HCC may be related with poorer prognosis. The results from this study may provide a potential therapeutic target for HCC treatment.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaonian Zhu ◽  
Chunhua Bei ◽  
Di Li ◽  
Huixia Zhang ◽  
Wen Zeng ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Human chemokine-like factor (CKLF)-like MARVEL transmembrane domain-containing family (CMTM) members are found deregulated in various cancers and play a role in cancer development. Recent studies showed that CMTM7 was down-regulated in liver cancer and functioned as a tumor suppressor. Methods The expression of CMTM7 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues was measured by bioinformatics analysis, Western blot, and quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). CCK8 and cell colony formation assays were conducted to detect the cell proliferation. Cell invasion and migration ability was assessed by wound healing and Transwell assays. Results We identified a decreased expression of CMTM7 in HCC tissues was closely related to the metastasis and prognosis of HCC patients. To explore the effect of CMTM7 on the biological function of HCC cells, we over-expressed CMTM7 in two HCC cell lines, SK-Hep-1 and Bel-7402 cells. Cell proliferation was reduced significantly after exogenous expression of CMTM7, detected by both CCK8 and colony formation assay. Moreover, the invasion and migration ability of HCC cells were also inhibited by exogenous expression of CMTM7 in wound healing and Transwell assay. Furthermore, there was a significantly positive correlation between CMTM7 and CMTM3 both in HCC cells and tumor tissues. Conclusions Our results suggest that down-regulated CMTM7 promotes metastasis of HCC through inducing the expression of its family member CMTM3.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bin Tie ◽  
Zheng Guo ◽  
Li Li ◽  
Wenhui Wang ◽  
Rong Liu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are dysregulated in hypoxia-induced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study probed the regulatory mechanism of miR-3156-5p on HCC under hypoxia. Methods: HCC cells (HepG2) were exposed to normoxia or hypoxia, and the conditioned medium (CM) of HepG2 was applied. Quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) was implemented to analyze the miR-3156-5p profile. The cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay and the colony formation experiment were conducted to measure cell proliferation, colony formation, and angiogenesis. Results: The results manifested that miR-3156-5p was up-regulated in HCC cells and endothelial cells under hypoxia, and up-regulating miR-3156-5p boosted HCC cell proliferation, endothelial cell angiogenesis, and HIF-1α/VEGF expression. Conclusions: miR-3156-5p activates the HIF-1α/VEGF pathway by hampering SOCS5, thereby enhancing the angiogenic potential of hypoxia-induced endothelial cells in HCC cells.


Author(s):  
Xiyang Zhang ◽  
Dongbo Jiang ◽  
Shuya Yang ◽  
Yuanjie Sun ◽  
Yang Liu ◽  
...  

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients are mostly diagnosed at an advanced stage, resulting in systemic therapy and poor prognosis. Therefore, the identification of a novel treatment target for HCC is important. B-cell receptor-associated protein 31 (BAP31) has been identified as a cancer/testis antigen; however, BAP31 function and mechanism of action in HCC remain unclear. In this study, BAP31 was demonstrated to be upregulated in HCC and correlated with the clinical stage. BAP31 overexpression promoted HCC cell proliferation and colony formation in vitro and tumor growth in vivo. RNA-sequence (RNA-seq) analysis demonstrated that serpin family E member 2 (SERPINE2) was downregulated in BAP31-knockdown HCC cells. Coimmunoprecipitation and immunofluorescence assays demonstrated that BAP31 directly binds to SERPINE2. The inhibition of SERPINE2 significantly decreased the BAP31-induced cell proliferation and colony formation of HCC cells and phosphorylation of Erk1/2 and p38. Moreover, multiplex immunohistochemistry staining of the HCC tissue microarray showed positive associations between the expression levels of BAP31, SERPINE2, its downstream gene LRP1, and a tumor proliferation marker, Ki-67. The administration of anti-BAP31 antibody significantly inhibited HCC cell xenograft tumor growth in vivo. Thus, these findings suggest that BAP31 promotes tumor cell proliferation by stabilizing SERPINE2 and can serve as a promising candidate therapeutic target for HCC.


Author(s):  
Xiaoying Han ◽  
Jing Yang ◽  
Dong Li ◽  
Zewei Guo

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third leading cause of cancer-associated mortality worldwide. Although the mechanisms of HCC progression are not well understood, recent studies demonstrated the potential contribution of uric acid transporter SLC2A9 to tumor suppression. However, the roles and underlying mechanisms are still unknown. We aimed to study the roles and mechanisms of SLC2A9 in HCC. The present study showed that SLC2A9 expression was decreased in human HCC tissues and cell lines. In addition, overexpression of SLC2A9 inhibited HCC cell proliferation. SCL2A9 induced HCC cell apoptosis by inhibiting the expression of caspase 3. Our study also revealed that upregulation of SLC2A9 reduced intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation. Furthermore, SLC2A9 increased the mRNA and protein expression of tumor suppressor p53 in HCC cells. Probenecid inhibits SLC2A9-mediated uric acid transport, which promotes cell proliferation, inhibits cell apoptosis, induces intracellular ROS, and decreases the expression of p53 in HCC cells. Therefore, the present study demonstrated that SLC2A9 may be a novel tumor suppressor gene and a potential therapeutic target in HCC.


2021 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
pp. 107327482110556
Author(s):  
Xi Luo ◽  
Yicun Liu ◽  
Han Li ◽  
Tiaochun Cheng ◽  
Jianjun Wu ◽  
...  

Background As a new class of non-coding RNAs, circRNAs have been recently reported to be involved in the tumorigenesis and progression of human cancers. In the current study, we attempted to explore the potential function of a novel circRNA (hsa_circ_0013290) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods Relative hsa_circ_0013290 expression was analyzed by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The subcellular location of hsa_circ_0013290 was performed by RNA subcellular isolation and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) assays. The effect of hsa_circ_0013290 on proliferation was detected by Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assays. The effect of hsa_circ_0013290 on cell cycle distribution and apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry. The invasion and migration abilities of hsa_circ_0013290 were detected by transwell assays. Results Hsa_circ_0013290 is significantly upregulated in HCC cell lines and mainly located in cytoplasm of HCC cells. Hsa_circ_0013290 overexpression promotes cell invasion and migration and inhibits cell apoptosis. In contrast, hsa_circ_0013290 knockdown impedes cell invasion and migration and accelerates cell apoptosis. However, hsa_circ_0013290 did not affect cell proliferation. Conclusions Hsa_circ_0013290 is overexpressed in HCC cell lines and is mainly located in the cytoplasm of HCC cells. Hsa_circ_0013290 promotes cell invasion and migration, and inhibits cell apoptosis.


2014 ◽  
Vol 92 (2) ◽  
pp. 152-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanrui Sheng ◽  
Shijia Ding ◽  
Ke Chen ◽  
Juan Chen ◽  
Sen Wang ◽  
...  

MicroRNA-101(miR-101) has been shown to be down-regulated in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a major risk factor in the development and progression of HCC. However, the correlation between HBV and miR-101 has not yet been fully elucidated. In this study, we reported that HBV could repress miR-101-3p by inhibiting its promoter activity and identified the potential effects of miR-101-3p on some important biological properties of HCC cells by targeting Rap1b. Dual-luciferase reporter assays showed that HBV down-regulated miR-101-3p by inhibiting its promoter activity. Down-regulation of miR-101-3p promoted cell proliferation, migration, and reduced apoptosis, and resulted in up-regulation of Rap1b, while overexpression of miR-101-3p inhibited these processes. Moreover, overexpression of Rap1b was able to reverse the suppressed cell proliferation and migration mediated by miR-101-3p. Our data showed that HBV down-regulated miR-101-3p expression by inhibiting its promoter activity, which resulted in up-regulation of Rap1b, and down-regulation of miR-101-3p or up-regulation of Rap1b promoted proliferation and migration of HCC cells. This provides a new understanding of the mechanism of HBV-related HCC pathogenesis and the potential application of miR-101-3p in cancer therapy.


Author(s):  
Yanhua Li ◽  
Xia Chen ◽  
Hong Lu

The gene solute carrier family 34 (sodium phosphate), member 2 (SLC34A2), is a member of the SLC34 family. Increasing evidence suggests that SLC34A2 is involved in the development of many human carcinomas. However, its role in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is still unclear. Therefore, in this study we investigated the role of SLC34A2 in HCC and explored the underlying mechanism. We found that the expression of SLC34A2 is upregulated in HCC cell lines. Knockdown of SLC34A2 obviously inhibited HCC cell proliferation, migration/invasion, and the epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (EMT) phenotype. Furthermore, knockdown of SLC34A2 significantly inhibited the expression of phosphorylated PI3K and AKT in HCC cells. Taken together, these results suggest that knockdown of SLC34A2 inhibits proliferation and migration by suppressing activation of the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway in HCC cells, and SLC34A2 may be a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of HCC.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Xiaocui Li ◽  
Min An ◽  
Zhenjun Gao

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third-highest cause of cancer-related death in the world. miRNAs have a role in cell division, differentiation, and death biological processes. They are typically dysregulated in cancers, affecting tumor progression. miRNA-296-3p appears to play a crucial role in cancer control, according to new research. However, its expression and roles in HCC are unknown. This study used qRT-PCR and western blotting to detect the miRNA-296-3p and male-specific lethal 2 (MSL2) expression. In addition, cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and apoptosis were studied using CCK-8, flow cytometric analysis, colony formation assay, wound healing test, and transwell assays. The results show that miRNA-296-3p is underexpressed in HCC cell lines, particularly in Huh-7 and HepG2 cells. miRNA-296-3p overexpression lowers the ability of HCC cells to proliferate, migrate, and invade while increasing cell death. Luciferase reporter experiments revealed that the MSL2 is a direct target of miRNA-296-3p. Furthermore, overexpression of miRNA-296-3p reduced MSL2 mRNA and protein levels considerably, according to our findings. Furthermore, the rescue experiments showed that the MSL2 overexpression partially blocked the inhibition effects of miRNA-296-3p mimic on the proliferation and migration of HCC cells. The above results show that miRNA-296-3p may have a repressive effect in HCC by targeting MSL2 and could be used as a therapeutic target for HCC treatment.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zetian Shen ◽  
Li Yin ◽  
Han Zhou ◽  
Xiaoqin Ji ◽  
Changchen Jiang ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective: This study aims to investigate the anti-tumor effect of combined inhibition of aurora kinase A (AURKA) and heat shock transcription factor 1 (HSF1) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and the underlying mechanism.Methods: The expression of AURKA and HSF1 in HCC tissues and cell lines were detected by Immunohistochemistry (IHC), qRT-PCR and Western blot. Then, AURKA was downregulated in HepG2 cells by lentivirus-induced RNA interfere. Cell viability, invasion, migration and apoptosis were examined by CCK8, clone formation, transwell assays and flow cytometry analysis. The expression of proteins related to cell cycle, apoptosis and endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) were detected by Western blot. The tumor in vivo growth was measured on nude mice model. Histopathological examination was performed with HE staining.Results: AURKA and HSF1 were highly expressed in HCC tissues and cells, as well as negative related with prognosis. Knockdown of AURKA significantly inhibited the colony formation and migration of HCC cells. Besides, AURKA inhibitor (Danusertib) significantly reduced the proliferation and migration of HCC cells, and promoted cell apoptosis. Combined inhibition of AURKA and HSF1 induced cell apoptosis of HCC cells and increased the expression of ERS-associated proteins including p-eIF2α, ATF4 and CHOP in vitro. Additionally, combined inhibition of AURKA and HSF1 displayed an excellent antitumor activity on HCC model with relative low cytotoxicity.Conclusion: Combined inhibition of AURKA and HSF1 display excellent anti-tumor effect on HCC by activating endoplasmic reticulum stress, suggesting that AURKA and HSF1 can served as potential targets for HCC treatment.


2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuanyuan Ji ◽  
Zhidong Wang ◽  
Haiyan Chen ◽  
Lei Zhang ◽  
Fei Zhuo ◽  
...  

Background/Aims: Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection (CHB) plays a central role in the etiology of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Emerging evidence implicates insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-II as a major risk factor for the growth and development of HCC. However, the relationship between HBV infection and IGF-II functions remains to be elucidated. Methods: Levels of circulating IGF-II and IGF-I receptor (IGF-IR) in healthy donors (HDs) and CHB patients were tested by ELISA. Human HCC cell lines (HepG-2, SMMC-7721, MHCC97-H) were incubated with serum from HDs and CHB patients at various concentrations for 24, 48, and 72 h. MTT and plate colony formation assays, BrdU ELISA, ELISA, small-interfering RNA (siRNA) transfection, quantitative real-time PCR, and western blot were applied to assess the functional and molecular mechanisms in HCC cell lines. Results: Serum levels of IGF-II and IGF-IR were significantly higher in CHB patients than in HDs. Additionally, serum from CHB patients directly induced cell growth, proliferation, IGF-II secretion, and HDGF-related protein-2 (HRP-2) and nuclear protein 1 (NUPR1) mRNA and protein expression in HCC cells. Moreover, serum from CHB patients increased IGF-II–induced cell growth, proliferation, and HRP-2 and NUPR1 mRNA and protein expression in HCC cells. Blockade of IGF-IR clearly inhibited the above effects. Most importantly, interference with IGF-II function markedly repressed the cell proliferation and HRP-2 and NUPR1 mRNA and protein expression induced by serum from CHB patients. Furthermore, serum from CHB patients induced ERK phosphorylation via IGF-IR, with the MEK inhibitor PD98059 significantly decreasing CHB patient serum-induced IGF-II secretion, cell proliferation, and HRP-2 and NUPR1 mRNA and protein expression. Conclusion: Serum from CHB patients increases cell growth and proliferation and enhances HRP-2 and NUPR1 expression in HCC cells via the IGF-II/IGF-IR/MEK/ERK signaling pathway. These findings help to explain the molecular mechanisms underlying HBV-related HCC and may lead to the development of effective therapies.


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