The oncogenic role of ARG2 in hepatocellular carcinoma

e16713 Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary liver cancer in adult and is a leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. In most mammals, two isoforms of arginase have been identified (ARG1 and ARG2). Clinical Data revealed that ARG2 is highly expressed in various types of cancers including HCC. However, the role of ARG2 in regulating the progression of HCC has not yet been examined. The present study aimed to examine the role of ARG2 on the progression of HCC. Methods: Cell growth and proliferation were examined by MTT assay and colony formation assay, respectively. Cell migration was determined using wound-healing assay. The expression of ARG2 and its correlated survival rate in HCC was analyzed by DriverDBv3 database. Results: Our experimental results showed that knockdown of ARG2 suppresses cell growth, colony formation and migration ability in HepG2 cells. In HCC patients, ARG2 is highly expressed in primary solid tumor and recurrence solid tumor samples comparing to solid tissue normal samples. In addition, high level of ARG2 is associated with poor overall survival in HCC patients. Conclusions: These results suggest that ARG2 plays an oncogenic role in modulating HCC progression.