Bromodomain-containing protein 9 promotes the growth and metastasis of human hepatocellular carcinoma by activating the TUFT1/AKT pathway

Abstract Bromodomain-containing protein 9 (BRD9) has a critical role in human squamous cell lung cancer, acute myeloid leukemia, and malignant rhabdoid tumors. However, the expression and biological role of BRD9 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is poorly understood. In this study, BRD9 expression was found to be elevated in HCC through data mining of public databases. Next, we confirmed that the expression of BRD9 was increased in HCC tissues compared with that in adjacent non-tumor tissues. The upregulated level of BRD9 was also observed in HCC cells in comparison to LO2 cells. The increased BRD9 expression was correlated with unfavorable clinicopathological features. A high level of BRD9 predicted a poorer overall survival and disease-free survival of HCC patients. Functionally, BRD9 overexpression facilitated the proliferation, migration, invasion, and epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) of Hep3B cells. Conversely, either BRD9 depletion or pharmacological inhibition of BRD9 resulted in the reduced proliferation and invasiveness of HCCLM3 cells. In addition, the BRD9 knockdown restrained the growth and metastasis of HCCLM3 cells in vivo. Mechanistically, BRD9 positively regulated TUFT1 expression and AKT activation in HCC cells. ChIP-qPCR analysis indicated that BRD9 promoted the binding of P300 acetyltransferase to the TUFT1 promoter and epigenetically regulated TUFT1 expression by increasing H3K27Ac in the promoter. Notably, either TUFT1 knockdown or AKT inhibitor (MK2206) abrogated the promoting effects of BRD9 on the proliferation, migration, invasion, and EMT of Hep3B cells. The forced expression of TUFT1 abolished the effects of BRD9 knockdown on the growth and metastasis of HCCLM3 cells. Altogether, these data indicate that BRD9 promotes the growth and metastasis of HCC cells by activating the TUFT1/AKT pathway and may serve as a promising biomarker and therapeutic target for HCC.

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High-metastatic cancer cells derived exosomal miR92a-3p promotes epithelial-mesenchymal transition and metastasis of low-metastatic cancer cells by regulating PTEN/Akt pathway in hepatocellular carcinoma

Oncogene ◽

10.1038/s41388-020-01450-5 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 39 (42) ◽

pp. 6529-6543 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Beng Yang ◽

Xiaode Feng ◽

Hua Liu ◽

Rongliang Tong ◽

Jingbang Wu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽

Cancer Cells ◽

Cancer Progression ◽

Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition ◽

Metastatic Cancer ◽

Critical Role ◽

Disease Free Survival ◽

Mesenchymal Transition ◽

Hcc Cells ◽

Metastatic Cancer Cells

Abstract Exosomes play an important role in intercellular communication and metastatic progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, cellular communication between heterogeneous HCC cells with different metastatic potentials and the resultant cancer progression are not fully understood in HCC. Here, HCC cells with high-metastatic capacity (97hm and Huhm) were constructed by continually exerting selective pressure on primary HCC cells (MHCC-97H and Huh7). Through performing exosomal miRNA sequencing in HCC cells with different metastatic potentials (MHCC-97H and 97hm), many significantly different miRNA candidates were found. Among these miRNAs, miR-92a-3p was the most abundant miRNA in the exosomes of highly metastatic HCC cells. Exosomal miR92a-3p was also found enriched in the plasma of HCC patient-derived xenograft mice (PDX) model with high-metastatic potential. Exosomal miR-92a-3p promotes epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in recipient cancer cells via targeting PTEN and regulating its downstream Akt/Snail signaling. Furthermore, through mRNA sequencing in HCC cells with different metastatic potentials and predicting potential transcription factors of miR92a-3p, upregulated transcript factors E2F1 and c-Myc were found in high-metastatic HCC cells promote the expression of cellular and exosomal miR-92a-3p in HCC by directly binding the promoter of its host gene, miR17HG. Clinical data showed that a high plasma exosomal miR92a-3p level was correlated with shortened overall survival and disease-free survival, indicating poor prognosis in HCC patients. In conclusion, hepatoma-derived exosomal miR92a-3p plays a critical role in the EMT progression and promoting metastasis by inhibiting PTEN and activating Akt/Snail signaling. Exosomal miR92a-3p is a potential predictive biomarker for HCC metastasis, and this may provoke the development of novel therapeutic and preventing strategies against metastasis of HCC.

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Epigenetic silencing of CDKN1A and CDKN2B by SNHG1 promotes the cell cycle, migration and epithelial-mesenchymal transition progression of hepatocellular carcinoma

Cell Death and Disease ◽

10.1038/s41419-020-03031-6 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (10) ◽

Author(s):

Bei Li ◽

Ang Li ◽

Zhen You ◽

Jingchang Xu ◽

Sha Zhu

Keyword(s):

Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽

Cell Cycle ◽

Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition ◽

Critical Role ◽

Luciferase Assay ◽

Bioinformatics Analyses ◽

Mesenchymal Transition ◽

Rna Immunoprecipitation

Abstract Enhanced SNHG1 (small nucleolar RNA host gene 1) expression has been found to play a critical role in the initiation and progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with its detailed mechanism largely unknown. In this study, we show that SNHG1 promotes the HCC progression through epigenetically silencing CDKN1A and CDKN2B in the nucleus, and competing with CDK4 mRNA for binding miR-140-5p in the cytoplasm. Using bioinformatics analyses, we found hepatocarcinogenesis is particularly associated with dysregulated expression of SNHG1 and activation of the cell cycle pathway. SNHG1 was upregulated in HCC tissues and cells, and its knockdown significantly inhibited HCC cell cycle, growth, metastasis, and epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) both in vitro and in vivo. Chromatin immunoprecipitation and RNA immunoprecipitation assays demonstrate that SNHG1 inhibit the transcription of CDKN1A and CDKN2B through enhancing EZH2 mediated-H3K27me3 in the promoter of CDKN1A and CDKN2B, thus resulting in the de-repression of the cell cycle. Dual-luciferase assay and RNA pulldown revealed that SNHG1 promotes the expression of CDK4 by competitively binding to miR-140-5p. In conclusion, we propose that SNHG1 formed a regulatory network to confer an oncogenic function in HCC and SNHG1 may serve as a potential target for HCC diagnosis and treatment.

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Metadherin–PRMT5 complex enhances the metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma through the WNT–β-catenin signaling pathway

Carcinogenesis ◽

10.1093/carcin/bgz065 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 41 (2) ◽

pp. 130-138 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Kai Zhu ◽

Yuanfei Peng ◽

Jinwu Hu ◽

Hao Zhan ◽

Liuxiao Yang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mass Spectrometry ◽

Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽

Signaling Pathway ◽

Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition ◽

Arginine Methyltransferase ◽

Mesenchymal Transition ◽

Functional Assays ◽

In Vivo Experiments ◽

Hcc Cells

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.

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HEG1 indicates poor prognosis and promotes hepatocellular carcinoma invasion, metastasis, and EMT by activating Wnt/β-catenin signaling

Clinical Science ◽

10.1042/cs20190225 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 133 (14) ◽

pp. 1645-1662 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Yan-rong Zhao ◽

Ji-long Wang ◽

Cong Xu ◽

Yi-ming Li ◽

Bo Sun ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽

Heart Development ◽

Poor Prognosis ◽

Nuclear Translocation ◽

Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition ◽

Disease Free Survival ◽

Intrahepatic Metastasis ◽

Mesenchymal Transition

Abstract Heart development protein with EGF-like domains 1 (HEG1) plays critical roles in embryo development and angiogenesis, which are closely related to tumor progression. However, the role of HEG1 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unknown. In the present study, we explored the clinical significance, biological function and regulatory mechanisms of HEG1 in HCC and found that HEG1 is significantly up-regulated in HCC cell lines and primary tumor samples. Additionally, high HEG1 expression is correlated with aggressive clinicopathological features. Patients with high HEG1 expression had shorter overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) than those with low HEG1 expression, which indicated that HEG1 is an independent factor for poor prognosis. Lentivirus-mediated HEG1 overexpression significantly promotes HCC cell migration, invasion and epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) in vitro and promotes intrahepatic metastasis, lung metastasis and EMT in vivo. Opposing results are observed when HEG1 is silenced. Mechanistically, HEG1 promotes β-catenin expression and maintains its stability, leading to intracellular β-catenin accumulation, β-catenin nuclear translocation and Wnt signaling activation. Loss- and gain-of-function assays further confirmed that β-catenin is essential for HEG1-mediated promotion of HCC invasion, metastasis and EMT. In conclusion, HEG1 indicates poor prognosis; plays important roles in HCC invasion, metastasis and EMT by activating Wnt/β-catenin signaling; and can serve as a potentially valuable prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for HCC.

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TXNDC12 promotes EMT and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma cells via activation of β-catenin

Cell Death and Differentiation ◽

10.1038/s41418-019-0421-7 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 27 (4) ◽

pp. 1355-1368 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Kefei Yuan ◽

Kunlin Xie ◽

Tian Lan ◽

Lin Xu ◽

Xiangzheng Chen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽

Nuclear Translocation ◽

Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition ◽

Disease Free Survival ◽

Underlying Mechanism ◽

Carcinoma Cells ◽

Mesenchymal Transition ◽

Protein Protein Interaction

Abstract Metastasis is one of the main contributors to the poor prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the underlying mechanism of HCC metastasis remains largely unknown. Here, we showed that TXNDC12, a thioredoxin-like protein, was upregulated in highly metastatic HCC cell lines as well as in portal vein tumor thrombus and lung metastasis tissues of HCC patients. We found that the enforced expression of TXNDC12 promoted metastasis both in vitro and in vivo. Subsequent mechanistic investigations revealed that TXNDC12 promoted metastasis through upregulation of the ZEB1-mediated epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) process. We subsequently showed that TXNDC12 overexpression stimulated the nuclear translocation and activation of β-catenin, a positive transcriptional regulator of ZEB1. Accordingly, we found that TXNDC12 interacted with β-catenin and that the thioredoxin-like domain of TXNDC12 was essential for the interaction between TXNDC12 and β-catenin as well as for TXNDC12-mediated β-catenin activation. Moreover, high levels of TXNDC12 in clinical HCC tissues correlated with elevated nuclear β-catenin levels and predicted worse overall and disease-free survival. In summary, our study demonstrated that TXNDC12 could activate β-catenin via protein–protein interaction and promote ZEB1-mediated EMT and HCC metastasis.

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Gelsolin Promotes Cancer Progression by Regulating Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Correlates with a Poor Prognosis

Journal of Oncology ◽

10.1155/2020/1980368 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2020 ◽

pp. 1-10 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Yixi Zhang ◽

Xiaojing Luo ◽

Jianwei Lin ◽

Shunjun Fu ◽

Pei Feng ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽

Cancer Progression ◽

Poor Prognosis ◽

Cancer Metastasis ◽

Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition ◽

Disease Free Survival ◽

Tumour Cells ◽

Migration And Invasion ◽

Mesenchymal Transition

Gelsolin (GSN), a cytoskeletal protein, is frequently overexpressed in different cancers and promotes cell motility. The biological function of GSN in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and its mechanism remain unclear. The expression of GSN was assessed in a cohort of 188 HCC patients. The effects of GSN on the migration and invasion of tumour cells were examined. Then, the role of GSN in tumour growth in vivo was determined by using a cancer metastasis assay. The possible mechanism by which GSN promotes HCC progression was explored. As a result, GSN was overexpressed in HCC tissues. High GSN expression was significantly correlated with late Edmondson grade, encapsulation, and multiple tumours. Patients with high GSN expression had worse overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) than those with low GSN expression. GSN expression was identified as an independent risk factor in both OS (hazard risk (HR) = 1.620, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.105–2.373, P<0.001) and DFS (HR = 1.744, 95% CI = 1.205–2.523, P=0.003). Moreover, GSN knockdown significantly inhibited the migration and invasion of HCC tumour cells, while GSN overexpression attenuated these effects by regulating epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) In conclusion, GSN promotes cancer progression and is associated with a poor prognosis in HCC patients. GSN promotes HCC progression by regulating EMT.

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hGC33-Modified and Sorafenib-Loaded Nanoparticles have a Synergistic Anti-Hepatoma Effect by Inhibiting Wnt Signaling Pathway

Nanoscale Research Letters ◽

10.1186/s11671-020-03451-5 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Jing Shen ◽

Wenpeng Cai ◽

Yongfang Ma ◽

Ruyue Xu ◽

Zhen Huo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽

Wnt Pathway ◽

Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition ◽

Mapk Pathway ◽

Wnt Signaling Pathway ◽

Mesenchymal Transition ◽

Specific Tumor ◽

Induced Signal ◽

Hcc Cells

AbstractDelivery of tumor-specific inhibitors is a challenge in cancer treatment. Antibody-modified nanoparticles can deliver their loaded drugs to tumor cells that overexpress specific tumor-associated antigens. Here, we constructed sorafenib-loaded polyethylene glycol-b-PLGA polymer nanoparticles modified with antibody hGC33 to glypican-3 (GPC3 +), a membrane protein overexpressed in hepatocellular carcinoma. We found that hGC33-modified NPs (hGC33-SFB-NP) targeted GPC3+ hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells by specifically binding to GPC3 on the surface of HCC cells, inhibited Wnt-induced signal transduction, and inhibited HCC cells in G0/1 by down-regulating cyclin D1 expression, thus attenuating HCC cell migration by inhibiting epithelial–mesenchymal transition. hGC33-SFB-NP inhibited the migration, cycle progression, and proliferation of HCC cells by inhibiting the Ras/Raf/MAPK pathway and the Wnt pathway in tandem with GPC3 molecules, respectively. hGC33-SFB-NP inhibited the growth of liver cancer in vivo and improved the survival rate of tumor-bearing mice. We conclude that hGC33 increases the targeting of SFB-NP to HCC cells. hGC33-SFB-NP synergistically inhibits the progression of HCC by blocking the Wnt pathway and the Ras/Raf/MAPK pathway.

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B-Cell Receptor-Associated Protein 31 Promotes Metastasis via AKT/β-Catenin/Snail Pathway in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences ◽

10.3389/fmolb.2021.656151 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

Author(s):

Tengfei Liu ◽

Junming Yu ◽

Chao Ge ◽

Fangyu Zhao ◽

Chunxiao Miao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽

Cancer Progression ◽

Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition ◽

Ectopic Expression ◽

Cell Receptor ◽

Migration And Invasion ◽

Related Factor ◽

Akt Inhibitor ◽

Mesenchymal Transition ◽

Hcc Cells

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most lethal cancer worldwide, characterized with high heterogeneity and inclination to metastasize. Emerging evidence suggests that BAP31 gets involved in cancer progression with different kinds. It still remains unknown whether and how BAP31 plays a role in HCC metastasis. Epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) has been a common feature in tumor micro-environment, whose inducer TGF-β increased BAP31 expression in this research. Elevated expression of BAP31 was positively correlated with tumor size, vascular invasion and poor prognosis in human HCC. Ectopic expression of BAP31 promoted cell migration and invasion while BAP31 knockdown markedly attenuated metastatic potential in HCC cells and mice orthotopic xenografts. BAP31 induced EMT process, and enhanced the expression level of EMT-related factor Snail and decreased contents and membrane distribution of E-cadherin. BAP31 also activated AKT/β-catenin pathway, which mediated its promotional effects on HCC metastasis. AKT inhibitor further counteracted the activated AKT/β-catenin/Snail upon BAP31 over-expression. Moreover, silencing Snail in BAP31-overexpressed cells impaired enhanced migratory and invasive abilities of HCC cells. In HCC tissues, BAP31 expression was positively associated with Snail. In conclusion, BAP31 promotes HCC metastasis by activating AKT/β-catenin/Snail pathway. Thus, our study implicates BAP31 as potential prognostic biomarker, and provides valuable information for HCC prognosis and treatment.

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ENO3 Inhibits Growth and Metastasis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma via Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling Pathway

Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology ◽

10.3389/fcell.2021.797102 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

Author(s):

Honglei Cui ◽

Danfeng Guo ◽

Xiaodan Zhang ◽

Yaohua Zhu ◽

Zhihui Wang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽

Target Genes ◽

Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition ◽

Ectopic Expression ◽

Noncancerous Tissue ◽

Mesenchymal Transition ◽

Proliferation And Metastasis ◽

Hcc Cells

β-enolase (ENO3) is a metalloenzyme that functions during glycolysis and has been revealed ectopic expression in different cancers. However, the function and underlying modulatory mechanisms of ENO3 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are still elusive. Here, we discovered that ENO3 was remarkably down-regulated in human HCC tissue in contrast to those in noncancerous tissue. Moreover, low expression of ENO3 was related to the poor prognosis of HCC patients. Overexpression of ENO3 suppressed proliferative, migratory, and invasive abilities of HCC cells both in vitro and in vivo, whereas knocking down ENO3 led to the opposite effect. In addition, we revealed that ENO3 repressed the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process with its biomarker variations. Mechanistic research unveiled that ENO3 suppressed the Wnt/β-catenin signal, which subsequently modulated the transcription of its target genes associated with the proliferation and metastasis capacity of HCC cells. Taken together, our study uncovered that ENO3 acted as a tumor inhibitor in HCC development and implied ENO3 as a promising candidate for HCC treatment.

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Cripto-1 promotes tumor invasion and predicts poor outcomes in hepatocellular carcinoma

Carcinogenesis ◽

10.1093/carcin/bgz133 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 41 (5) ◽

pp. 571-581

Author(s):

Tao Huang ◽

Yi-Zhan Guo ◽

Xiao Yue ◽

Guo-Pei Zhang ◽

Yi Zhang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽

Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition ◽

Survival Rates ◽

Disease Free Survival ◽

Migration And Invasion ◽

Invasion And Metastasis ◽

Mesenchymal Transition ◽

Poor Outcomes

Abstract Cripto-1 (CR1), an oncofetal protein, had been implied to reactivate in some cancers. However, the relationship between CR1 expression and patient outcomes and the tumor biological function of CR1 contributing to invasion and metastasis in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is poorly defined. In this study, we demonstrated that CR1 was expressed in over 80% of HCCs in a training cohort (n = 242) and a validation cohort (n = 159). High CR1 expression was significantly correlated with aggressive HCC phenotypes (i.e. portal vein tumor thrombus, microscopic vascular invasion, multiple tumors and poor tumor differentiation). In both the training and validation cohorts, patients with high CR1 expression had remarkably shorter disease-free survival and overall survival rates than those with low CR1 expression. A series in vitro and in vivo assays showed that CR1 substantially promoted HCC cell migration, invasion and metastasis. Mechanistically, we demonstrated that CR1 induced HCC cells to undergo epithelial–mesenchymal transition through activating the Akt/NFκB/p65 signaling. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assay showed that NFκB/p65 enhanced CR1 expression by binding its promoter. Thus, CR1 and NFκB/p65 form a positive feedback loop that sustained the process of migration and invasion of HCC. Therefore, CR1 plays an important role in HCC invasion and metastasis and may be an effective and reliable prognostic biomarker for HCC recurrence after resection. Targeting CR1 may be a promising treatment for HCC.

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