Amarogentin Inhibits Liver Cancer Cell Angiogenesis after Insufficient Radiofrequency Ablation via Affecting Stemness and the p53-Dependent VEGFA/Dll4/Notch1 Pathway

Background. Whether and how amarogentin suppresses the angiogenesis effect in liver cancer cells after insufficient radiofrequency ablation (iRFA) are still poorly studied. Methods. The number of liver cancer stem cells (LCSCs) and the level of vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) were assessed in liver cancer tissue after iRFA. Then, CD133-positive cells were detected in iRFA models of HepG2 and Huh7 cell lines treated with amarogentin. Tube formation assays were applied to observe the antiangiogenesis effects of amarogentin. In addition, the angiogenesis-related molecules p53, delta-like ligand 4 (Dll4), and Notch1 were detected in the iRFA cells and mouse models treated with amarogentin. Results. The mRNA and protein expression levels of CD133 and VEGFA were significantly higher in the residual liver cancer tissue than in the liver cancer tissues treated by hepatectomy. Amarogentin then markedly decreased the percentage of CD133-positive cells in the iRFA model in both HepG2 and Huh7 cell lines. The number of tubules formed by human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) was significantly decreased by amarogentin. Inversely, the antiangiogenesis effect of amarogentin was counteracted after p53 silencing in the iRFA cell models. Conclusion. Amarogentin prevents the malignant transformation of liver cancer after iRFA via affecting stemness and the p53-dependent VEGFA/Dll4/Notch1 pathway to inhibit cancer cell angiogenesis.

Radiofrequency ablation triggers the migration of hepatocellular carcinoma cells by suppressing miR-148a-5p

Increasing evidences suggest that insufficient radiofrequency ablation (IRFA) can paradoxically promote tumor invasion and metastatic processes, whereas the effects of moderate hyperthermia on cancer progression are not well illustrated. Our study found that IRFA can increase the in vitro migration, invasion, and epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells via induction of Snail, a master regulator of EMT events. Among measured miRNAs, IRFA can decrease the expression of miR-148a-5p in HCC cells. Whereas overexpression of miR-148a-5p can reverse IRFA-induced migration of HCC cells and upregulation of Snail, mechanistically overexpression of miR-148a-5p can directly target and decrease the expression of protein kinase ATM (ataxia telangiectasia mutated), which can increase protein stability of Snail. Collectively, our data suggest that IRFA can regulate the miR-148a-5p/ATM/Snail axis to trigger migration of HCC cells.