Hongping Xia

MicroRNA-216a/217-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition targets PTEN and SMAD7 to promote drug resistance and recurrence of liver cancer

Tumor recurrence and metastases are the major obstacles to improving the prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). To identify novel risk factors associated with HCC recurrence and metastases, we have established a panel of recurrence‐associated microRNAs (miRNAs) by comparing miRNA expression in recurrent and nonrecurrent human HCC tissue samples using microarrays (recurrence is defined as recurrent disease occurring within a 2‐year time point of the original treatment). Among the panel, expression of the miR‐216a/217 cluster was consistently and significantly up‐regulated in HCC tissue samples and cell lines associated with early tumor recurrence, poor disease‐free survival, and an epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (EMT) phenotype. Stable overexpression of miR‐216a/217‐induced EMT increased the stem‐like cell population, migration, and metastatic ability of epithelial HCC cells. Phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) and mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 7 (SMAD7) were subsequently identified as two functional targets of miR‐216a/217, and both PTEN and SMAD7 were down‐regulated in HCC. Ectopic expression of PTEN or SMAD7 partially rescued miR‐216a/217‐mediated EMT, cell migration, and stem‐like properties of HCC cells. Previously, SMAD7 was shown to be a transforming growth factor beta (TGF‐β) type 1 receptor antagonist. Here, we further demonstrated that overexpression of miR‐216a/217 acted as a positive feedback regulator for the TGF‐β pathway and the canonical pathway involved in the activation of phosphoinositide 3‐kinase/protein kinase K (PI3K/Akt) signaling in HCC cells. Additionally, activation of the TGF‐β‐ and PI3K/Akt‐signaling pathways in HCC cells resulted in an acquired resistance to sorafenib, whereas blocking activation of the TGF‐β pathway overcame miR‐216a/217‐induced sorafenib resistance and prevented tumor metastases in HCC. Conclusion: Overexpression of miR‐216a/217 activates the PI3K/Akt and TGF‐β pathways by targeting PTEN and SMAD7, contributing to hepatocarcinogenesis and tumor recurrence in HCC. (Hepatology 2013;58:629–641)

MiR-214 Targets β-Catenin Pathway to Suppress Invasion, Stem-Like Traits and Recurrence of Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma

The down-regulation of miR-214 has previously been observed in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Here, we demonstrated the down-regulation of miR-214 is associated with cell invasion, stem-like traits and early recurrence of HCC. Firstly, we validated the suppression of miR-214 in human HCC by real-time quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) in 20 paired tumor and non-tumor liver tissues of HCC patients and 10 histologically normal liver tissues from colorectal cancer patients with liver metastases. Further qRT-PCR analysis of 50 HCC tissues from an independent cohort of HCC patients of whom 29 with early recurrent disease (<2 years) and 21 with late recurrent disease demonstrated that the suppression of miR-214 was significantly more suppressed in samples from HCC patients with early recurrent disease compared those from patients with no recurrence. Re-expression of miR-214 significantly suppressed the growth of HCC cells in vitro and reduced their tumorigenicity in vivo. The enhancer of zeste homologue 2 (EZH2) and β-catenin (CTNNB1) was identified as two potential direct downstream targets of miR-214 through bioinformatics analysis and experimentally validated the miRNA-target interactions with a dual-firefly luciferase reporter assay. In corroborate with this, both EZH2 and CTNNB1 are found to be significantly overexpressed in human HCC biopsies. Since EZH2 can regulate CTNNB1, CTNNB1 can also be an indirect target of miR-214 through EZH2. Silencing EZH2 or CTNNB1 expression suppressed the growth and invasion of HCC cells and induced E-cadherin (CDH1), known to inhibit cell invasion and metastasis. Furthermore, the silencing of miR-214 or overexpression of EZH2 increased EpCAM+ stem-like cells through the activation of CTNNB1. Interestingly, the up-regulation of EZH2, CTNNB1 and the down-regulation of CDH1 in HCC patients correlated with early recurrent disease and can be an independent predictor of poor survival. Therefore, miR-214 can directly or indirectly target CTNNB1 to modulate the β-catenin signaling pathway in HCC.

MicroRNAs involved in regulating epithelial–mesenchymal transition and cancer stem cells as molecular targets for cancer therapeutics

One of the major challenges in cancer gene therapy is the identification of functionally relevant tumor-specific genes as the therapeutic targets. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small, 22–25 nucleotides, endogenously expressed noncoding RNA. miRNAs are important genetic regulators: one miRNA can possibly target multiple genes and they can function as tumor promoters (oncogenic miRNAs, oncomirs) or tumor suppressors (anti-oncomirs). Therefore, the identification of misregulated miRNAs in cellular signaling pathways related to oncogenesis can have profound implications for cancer therapy. The epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) converts epithelial cells into mesenchymal cells, a normal embryological process that frequently get activated during cancer invasion and metastasis. Recent evidence also supports the presence of a small subset of self-renewing, stem-like cells within the tumor mass that possess the capacity to seed new tumors and they have been termed ‘cancer stem cells (CSC)’. Conceivably, these CSCs could provide a resource for cells that cause therapy resistance. Although the cell origin of CSCs remains to be fully elucidated, a growing body of evidence has demonstrated that the biology of EMT and CSCs is tightly linked with the sequences and compositions of miRNA molecules. Therefore, targeting miRNAs involved in EMT and CSCs regulation can provide novel miRNA-based therapeutic strategies in oncology.

The microtubule-associated protein PRC1 promotes early recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma in association with the Wnt/β-catenin signalling pathway

Objectives Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the second leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide. Alterations in microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) have been observed in HCC. However, the mechanisms underlying these alterations remain poorly understood. Our aim was to study the roles of the MAP protein regulator of cytokinesis 1 (PRC1) in hepatocarcinogenesis and early HCC recurrence. Design PRC1 expression in HCC samples was evaluated by microarray, immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry analysis. Molecular and cellular techniques including siRNA-mediated and lentiviral vector-mediated knockdown were used to elucidate the functions and mechanisms of PRC1. Results PRC1 expression was associated with early HCC recurrence and poor patient outcome. In HCC, PRC1 exerted an oncogenic effect by promoting cancer proliferation, stemness, metastasis and tumourigenesis. We further demonstrated that the expression and distribution of PRC1 is dynamically regulated by Wnt3a signalling. PRC1 knockdown impaired transcription factor (TCF) transcriptional activity, decreased Wnt target expression and reduced nuclear β-catenin levels. Mechanistically, PRC1 interacts with the β-catenin destruction complex, regulates Wnt3a-induced membrane sequestration of this destruction complex, inhibits adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) stability and promotes β-catenin release from the APC complex. In vivo, high PRC1 expression correlated with nuclear β-catenin and Wnt target expression. PRC1 acted as a master regulator of a set of 48 previously identified Wnt-regulated recurrence-associated genes (WRRAGs) in HCC. Thus, PRC1 controlled the expression and function of WRRAGs such as FANCI, SPC25, KIF11 and KIF23 via Wnt signalling. Conclusions We identified PRC1 as a novel Wnt target that functions in a positive feedback loop that reinforces Wnt signalling to promote early HCC recurrence.

ECT2 regulates the Rho/ERK signalling axis to promote early recurrence in human hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND & AIMS Early recurrence is the major obstacle for improving the outcome of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Therefore, identifying key molecules contributing to early HCC recurrence can enable the development of novel therapeutic strategies for the clinical management of HCC. Epithelial cell transforming sequence 2 (ECT2) has been implicated in human cancers, but its function in HCC is largely unknown. METHODS ECT2 expression was studied by microarrays, immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry in human HCC samples. siRNA- and lentiviral vector-mediated knockdown were employed to decipher the molecular functions of ECT2. RESULTS The upregulation of ECT2 is significantly associated with early recurrent HCC disease and poor survival. Knockdown of ECT2 markedly suppressed Rho GTPases activities, enhanced apoptosis, attenuated oncogenicity and reduced the metastatic ability of HCC cells. Moreover, knockdown of ECT2 or Rho also suppressed ERK activation, while the silencing of Rho or ERK led to a marked reduction in cell migration. Stable knockdown of ECT2 in vivo resulted in significant retardation of tumour growth and the suppression of ERK activation. High expression of ECT2 correlates with high ERK phosphorylation and poor survival of HCC patients. Furthermore, ECT2 enhances the expression and stability of RACGAP1, accelerating ECT2-mediated Rho activation to promote metastasis. CONCLUSIONS ECT2 is closely associated with the activation of the Rho/ERK signalling axis to promote early HCC recurrence. In addition, ECT2 can crosstalk with RACGAP1 to catalyse the GTP exchange involved in Rho signalling to further regulate tumour initiation and metastasis.

Mechanism of Cancer Drug Resistance and the Involvement of Noncoding RNAs

Drug resistance is one of the major reasons for the failure of cancer therapies. Although our understanding of resistance to targeted cancer drugs remains incomplete, new and more creative approaches are being exploited to intercept this phenomenon. Considerable advances have been made in our understanding that cancer drug resistance can be caused by alterations of drug efflux, increases in drug metabolism, mutations of drug targets, alterations in DNA repair and cell cycle, changes in cell apoptosis and autophagy, induction of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and the generation of cancer stem cells (CSCs). Furthermore, intracellular signalling pathways have been shown to play key physiological roles and the abnormal activation of signalling pathways may be correlated with drug resistance. Recently, noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs), including microRNAs (miRNAs) and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), have emerged as important regulators of gene expression and alternative splicing, which provides cells with yet another mode to greatly increase regulatory complexity and fine-tune their transcriptome and can rapidly adjust their proteome in response to stimuli. Consequently, a wide variety of biological functions have been shown to depend on the coordinated interactions between noncoding RNAs and cellular signalling networks to achieve a concerted desired physiological outcome, whereas mutations and dysregulation of ncRNAs have been linked to diverse human diseases, including cancer drug resistance. In this review, we will discuss recent findings on the multiple molecular roles of regulatory ncRNAs on the signalling pathways involved in cancer drug resistance and the therapeutic potential of reverse drug resistance.

pH-Sensitive Pt Nanocluster Assembly Overcomes Cisplatin Resistance and Heterogeneous Stemness of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Response rates to conventional chemotherapeutics remain unsatisfactory for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) due to the high rates of chemoresistance and recurrence. Tumor-initiating cancer stem-like cells (CSLCs) are refractory to chemotherapy, and their enrichment leads to subsequent development of chemoresistance and recurrence. To overcome the chemoresistance and stemness in HCC, we synthesized a Pt nanocluster assembly (Pt-NA) composed of assembled Pt nanoclusters incorporating a pH-sensitive polymer and HCC-targeting peptide. Pt-NA is latent in peripheral blood, readily targets disseminated HCC CSLCs, and disassembles into small Pt nanoclusters in acidic subcellular compartments, eventually inducing damage to DNA. Furthermore, treatment with Pt-NA downregulates a multitude of genes that are vital for the proliferation of HCC. Importantly, CD24+ side population (SP) CSLCs that are resistant to cisplatin are sensitive to Pt-NA, demonstrating the immense potential of Pt-NA for treating chemoresistant HCC.

EDIL3 is a novel regulator of epithelial-mesenchymal transition controlling early recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND & AIMS Patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) continue to have a dismal prognosis. Early recurrence, metastases and angiogenesis are the major obstacles to improve the outcome of HCC. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a key contributor to cancer metastasis and recurrence, which are the major obstacles to improve prognosis of HCC. METHODS Combining gene expression profiles of HCC samples with or without early recurrence and established cell lines with epithelial or mesenchymal phenotype, EDIL3 was identified as a novel regulator of EMT. The expression of EDIL3 was evaluated by quantitative PCR, Western blotting or immunohistochemistry. The effects of EDIL3 on the angiogenesis and metastasis of HCC cells were examined by wound healing, Matrigel invasion and tube formation assay in vitro and orthotopic xenograft mouse model of HCC in vivo. The signaling pathways of EDIL3 mediated were investigated through microarray and Western blotting analysis. RESULTS EDIL3 was identified as a novel regulator of EMT, which contributes to angiogenesis, metastasis and recurrence of HCC. EDIL3 induces EMT and promotes HCC migration, invasion and angiogenesis in vitro. Mechanistically, overexpression of EDIL3, which was regulated by the downregulation of miR-137 in HCC, triggered the activation of ERK and TGF-β signaling through interactions with αvβ3 integrin. Blocking ERK and TGF-β signaling overcomes EDIL3 induced angiogenesis and invasion. Using the orthotopic xenograft mouse model of HCC, we demonstrated that EDIL3 enhanced the tumorigenic, metastatic and angiogenesis potential of HCC in vivo. CONCLUSIONS EDIL3-mediated activation of TGF-β and ERK signaling could provide therapeutic implications for HCC.

Emergence of aspirin as a promising chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic agent for liver cancer

Aspirin is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) that has been established to treat pain, fever and inflammation. Evidence demonstrated that whenever a cell is injured, prostaglandin is released and NSAIDs such as aspirin can help prevent and relieve these symptoms of injury by blocking the action of cyclooxygenase (COX), the enzyme responsible for the synthesis of prostaglandins. Aspirin acts by acetylating platelet COX-1 and as a consequence, also irreversibly inhibiting platelet function.1 Indeed, by exerting its antiplatelet effects, aspirin could significantly reduce the risk of myocardial infarction and stroke. Substantial evidence have also demonstrated the potential of aspirin for the prevention and treatment of cancer. Multiple clinical studies have demonstrated a link between long-term aspirin use and a reduction in the incidence and mortality of several cancer types, including colorectal, stomach, esophageal, breast, lung, prostate and liver cancers.2, 3 In this News and View, we have highlighted the emergence of aspirin as a chemoprevention agent and its role as an adjuvant therapy in cancer, focusing mainly on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) (Figure 1).

CDK1‐mediated BCL9 phosphorylation inhibits clathrin to promote mitotic Wnt signalling

Uncontrolled cell division is a hallmark of cancer. Deregulation of Wnt components has been linked to aberrant cell division by multiple mechanisms, including Wnt‐mediated stabilisation of proteins signalling, which was notably observed in mitosis. Analysis of Wnt components revealed an unexpected role of B‐cell CLL/lymphoma 9 (BCL9) in maintaining mitotic Wnt signalling to promote precise cell division and growth of cancer cell. Mitotic interactome analysis revealed a mechanistic role of BCL9 in inhibiting clathrin‐mediated degradation of LRP6 signalosome components by interacting with clathrin and the components in Wnt destruction complex; this function was further controlled by CDK1‐driven phosphorylation of BCL9 N‐terminal, especially T172. Interestingly, T172 phosphorylation was correlated with cancer patient prognosis and enriched in tumours. Thus, our results revealed a novel role of BCL9 in controlling mitotic Wnt signalling to promote cell division and growth.