1. SOX18 Affects Cell Viability, Migration, Invasiveness, and Apoptosis in Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) Cells by Participating in Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) Progression and Adenosine Monophosphate Activated Protein Kinase (AMPK)/Mammalian Target of Rapamycin (mTOR)
- Author
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Qingxian Huang, Yanni Sun, and Bo Lei
- Subjects
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ,Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition ,Cell Survival ,Apoptosis ,030204 cardiovascular system & hematology ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Lab/In Vitro Research ,Cell Movement ,Cell Line, Tumor ,SOXF Transcription Factors ,Humans ,Neoplasm Invasiveness ,Epithelial–mesenchymal transition ,Viability assay ,Neoplasm Metastasis ,PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway ,Cell Proliferation ,Chemistry ,TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases ,Adenylate Kinase ,Liver Neoplasms ,Autophagy ,AMPK ,Cell migration ,General Medicine ,030220 oncology & carcinogenesis ,Cancer research ,Signal transduction ,Signal Transduction - Abstract
BACKGROUND Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies around the world. It has been verified that the expression of SOX18 is correlated to poor clinical prognosis in patients with ovarian cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, or breast invasive ductal carcinoma. However, the expression pattern and biological function of SOX18 in HCC tissues remains unclear. In this study, we set out to investigate the associated biological function and potential molecular mechanism of the SOX18 gene in HCC cells. MATERIAL AND METHODS The mRNA and protein expression levels of experimental related genes were detected by real-time polymerase chain reaction and western blotting assay, respectively. The MTT method was used to assess cell viability, and cell apoptosis analysis was performed by means of FACScan flow cytometry. Wound-healing assay and Transwell analysis were performed to evaluate the ability of cell migration and invasiveness, respectively. RESULTS SOX18 was highly expressed in various HCC cell lines. In addition, SOX18 promoted cell viability, migration, and invasion and simultaneously induce cell apoptosis. SOX18 promoted epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) progression, and SOX18 downregulation activated the autophagy signaling pathway AMPK/mTOR in HCC cells. CONCLUSIONS SOX18 downregulation in HCC cells suppressed cell viability and metastasis, induced cell apoptosis and hindered the occurrence and progression of tumor cells by participating in the EMT process and regulating the autophagy signaling pathway AMPK/mTOR.
- Published
- 2019