Telocytes promote hepatocellular carcinoma by activating the ERK signaling pathway and miR-942-3p/MMP9 axis

In China, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is considered a malignant tumor with poor prognosis, frequent metastasis, and a high relapse rate. Telocytes (TCs) participate in tumorigenic, invasive, and migratory processes by secreting functional proteins and transmitting cell-to-cell information, but th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cell death discovery 2021-08, Vol.7 (1), p.209-209, Article 209
Main Authors: Xu, Ying, Tian, Hu, Luan, Chao Guang, Sun, Kai, Bao, Peng Jin, Zhang, Hua Yu, Zhang, Nan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
631/67/71
631/80/84/2336
Animal models
Apoptosis
Biochemistry
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Cell Biology
Cell Cycle Analysis
Extracellular signal-regulated kinase
Gelatinase B
Hepatocellular carcinoma
Hepatocytes
Immunohistochemistry
Invasiveness
Life Sciences
Liver cancer
Metastases
Metastasis
Platelet-derived growth factor
Polymerase chain reaction
Signal transduction
Stem Cells
Tumor cell lines
Western blotting
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Summary:In China, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is considered a malignant tumor with poor prognosis, frequent metastasis, and a high relapse rate. Telocytes (TCs) participate in tumorigenic, invasive, and migratory processes by secreting functional proteins and transmitting cell-to-cell information, but their functions in HCC are still unknown. TC counts and MMP9 expression in liver cancer tissues were measured using immunohistochemistry, western blotting, and RT-PCR. Primary TCs from liver para-cancer tissues were cultured in vitro. To verify the role of TCs in HCC, a metastatic cancer animal model was established using three types of liver cancer cell lines in vivo. TCs promoted HCC cell metastasis by MMP9 expression in vitro and in vivo. Platelet-derived growth factor-alpha (PDGF-α), secreted by HCC cells, activated the Ras/ERK signaling pathway in TCs, thereby increasing MMP9 expression; Moreover, miR-942-3p suppressed MMP9 expression in TCs. Our results reveal the role of TCs in HCC and the mechanisms by which they elicit their effects, and they may serve as novel prognostic markers for HCC.
ISSN:2058-7716
2058-7716
DOI:10.1038/s41420-021-00592-z