Background: During the process of metastasis, cells are subjected to various apoptotic stimuli. Aberrant expression of apoptotic regulators often contribute to cell metastasis. Heat shock protein 27(HSP27) is confirmed as an apoptosis regulator, but its antiapoptotic mechanism in metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells remains unclear. Methods: Levels of HSP27 protein and its phosphorylation in Hep3B, MHCC97L to MHCC97H cells with different metastatic potentials were determined by western blot analysis. MHCC97H cells were transfected with specific small interference RNA (siRNA) against HSP27. The in vitro migration and invasion potentials of cells were evaluated by Transwell assay. The apoptosis ratio of MHCC97H cells was analyzed by TUNEL staining and Flow Cytometry. Alteration of signal transduction pathway after HSP27 knockdown in MHCC97H cells was evaluated through a Human Q Series Signal Transduction in Cancer Gene Array analysis. Nuclear NF-κB contentration and endogenous IKK activity were demonstrated by ELISA assay. The association of IKKα, IKKβ, IκBα with HSP27 and the association between IKKβ and IKKα in MHCC97H cells were determined by co-immunoprecipitation assay followed by western blot analysis. Results: HSP27 protein and its phosphorylation increased in parallel with enhanced metastatic potentials of HCC cells. siRNA-mediated HSP27 knockdown in MHCC97H significantly suppressed cells migration and invasion in vitro and induced cell apoptosis; the prominently altered signal transduction pathway was NF-κB pathway after HSP27 knockdown in MHCC97H cells. Furthermore, inhibition of HSP27 expression led to a significant decrease of nuclear NF-κB contentration and endogenous IKK activity. In addition, HSP27 was associated with IKKα, IKKβ, IκBα in three HCC cells above. ELISA assay and western blot analysis also showed a decrease of the association between IKKβ and IKKα, the association between phosphor-HSP27 and IKK complex, and an increase of total IκBα but reducing tendency of phosphor-IκBα when HSP27 expression was efficiently knocked down in MHCC97H cells. Conclusion: Altogether, these findings revealed a possible effect of HSP27 on apoptosis in metastatic HCC cells, in which HSP27 may regulate NF-kB pathway activation.

Background-: Aberrant activity of tyrosine-phosphorylated proteins is commonly associated with HCC metastasis. Cell signaling events driven by these proteins are implicated in numerous processes that alter cancer cell behavior. Exploring the activities and signaling pathways of these proteins in HCC metastasis may help in identifying new candidate molecules for HCC-targeted therapy. Methods-: Hep3B (a nonmetastatic HCC cell line) and MHCC97H (a highly metastatic HCC cell line) were used in this study, and the tyrosine-phosphorylated proteins expressed in these cell lines were profiled by a phosphoproteomics technique based on LC-MS/MS. Protein-protein interaction and functional clustering analyses were performed to determine the activities of the identified proteins and the signaling pathways closely related to HCC metastasis. Results-: In both cell lines, a total of 247 phosphotyrosine (pTyr) proteins containing 281 pTyr sites were identified without any stimulation. The involvement of almost 30% of these in liver or liver cancer has not been reported previously. Biological process clustering analysis indicated that pTyr proteins involved in cell motility, migration, protein autophosphorylation, cell-cell communication, and antiapoptosis functions were overexpressed during metastasis. Pathway clustering analysis revealed that signaling pathways such as those involved in EGFR signaling, cytokine- and chemokine-mediated signal transduction, and the PI3K and JAK-STAT cascades were significantly activated during HCC metastasis. Moreover, noncanonical regulation of the JNK cascade might also provide new targets for HCC metastasis. After comparing the pTyr proteins that were differentially expressed during HCC cell metastasis, we selected FER, a nonreceptor tyrosine kinase, and validated its role in terms of both expression and function. The data confirmed that FER might play a critical role in the invasion and metastasis of HCC. Conclusion-: The identification of pTyr proteins and signaling pathways associated with HCC metastasis could provide useful information for selecting new molecular intervention targets. Moreover, FER might serve as a novel drug target in future HCC therapy.

Background: Numerous studies have used multi-region sampling approaches to characterize intra-tumor heterogeneity (ITH) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, conventional multi-region sampling strategies do not preserve the spatial details of samples, and thus, the potential influences of spatial distribution on patient-wise ITH (represents the overall heterogeneity level of the tumor in a given patient) have long been overlooked. Furthermore, gene-wise transcriptional ITH (represents the expression pattern of genes across different intra-tumor regions) in HCC is also under-explored, highlighting the need for a comprehensive investigation. Methods: To address the problem of spatial information loss, we propose a simple and easy-to-implement strategy called spatial localization sampling (SLS). We performed multi-region sampling and sequencing on 14 patients with HCC, collecting a total of 75 tumor samples with spatial information and molecular data. Normalized diversity score and integrated heterogeneity score (IHS) were then developed to measure patient-wise and gene-wise ITH, respectively. Results: A significant correlation between spatial and molecular heterogeneity was uncovered, implying that spatial distribution of sampling sites did influence ITH estimation in HCC. We demonstrated that the normalized diversity score had the ability to overcome sampling location bias and provide a more accurate estimation of patient-wise ITH. According to this metric, HCC tumors could be divided into two classes (low-ITH and high-ITH tumors) with significant differences in multiple biological properties. Through IHS analysis, we revealed a highly heterogenous immune microenvironment in HCC and identified some low-ITH checkpoint genes with immunotherapeutic potential. We also constructed a low-heterogeneity risk stratification (LHRS) signature based on the IHS results which could accurately predict the survival outcome of patients with HCC on a single tumor biopsy sample. Conclusions: This study provides new insights into the complex phenotypes of HCC and may serve as a guide for future studies in this field.

Background: Despite recent advances in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the chemotherapy efficacy against HCC is still unsatisfactory. The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) has been emerged as an important cancer therapeutic target. However, HCC cells often resistant to rapamycin because of the paradoxical activation of Akt by rapamycin. In this study, we investigated whether bortezomib could enhance the antitumor effects of rapamycin. Methods: The effects of rapamycin and bortezomib on HCC proliferation, apoptosis, migration, and invasiveness in vitro were assessed by CCK-8 analysis, flow cytometry, Hoechst 33342 staining and transwell assays, respectively. Total and phosphorylated protein levels of Akt were detected by Western blotting. The effects of rapamycin and/or bortezomib on the mRNA expression levels of p53, p27, p21 and Bcl-2 family in HCCLM3 cells were evaluated by RT-PCR. The roles of rapamycin and bortezomib on HCC growth and metastasis in xenograft models were evaluated by tumor volumes and fluorescent signals. The effects of rapamycin and bortezomib on cell proliferation and apoptosis in vivo were test by PCNA and TUNEL staining. Results: Bortezomib synergized with rapamycin to reduce cell growth, induce apoptosis, and inhibit cell mobility in vitro. Further mechanistic studies showed that bortezomib inhibited rapamycin-induced phosphorylated Akt, which in turn enhanced apoptosis of HCC cell lines. The alteration of the mRNA expression of cell cycle inhibitors p53, p27, p21 and apoptosis associated genes Bcl-2, Bax were also involved in the synergistic antitumor effects of rapamycin and bortezomib. P53 inhibitor PFT-α significantly attenuate the effect of rapamycin and bortezomib on cell apoptosis, which indicated that the pro-apoptotic effect of rapamycin and bortezomib may be p53-dependent. Treatment of HCCLM3-R bearing nude mice with rapamycin and bortezomib significantly enhanced tumor growth inhibition (72.4%), comparing with either rapamycin- (54.7%) or bortezomib-treated mice (22.4%). In addition, the lung metastasis was significantly suppressed in mice received the combination treatment (16.6%). The combination treatment of rapamycin and bortezomib significantly inhibited tumor cell proliferation and tumor angiogenesis in vivo. Conclusion: The combination of rapamycin with bortezomib could be a novel and promising therapeutic approach to the treatment of HCC.