BACKGROUND Hepatic stellate cell(HSC)hyperactivation is a central link in liver fibrosis development.HSCs perform aerobic glycolysis to provide energy for their activation.Focal adhesion kinase(FAK)promotes aerobic gl...BACKGROUND Hepatic stellate cell(HSC)hyperactivation is a central link in liver fibrosis development.HSCs perform aerobic glycolysis to provide energy for their activation.Focal adhesion kinase(FAK)promotes aerobic glycolysis in cancer cells or fibroblasts,while FAK-related non-kinase(FRNK)inhibits FAK phosphorylation and biological functions.AIM To elucidate the effect of FRNK on liver fibrosis at the level of aerobic glycolytic metabolism in HSCs.METHODS Mouse liver fibrosis models were established by administering CCl4,and the effect of FRNK on the degree of liver fibrosis in the model was evaluated.Transforming growth factor-β1 was used to activate LX-2 cells.Tyrosine phosphorylation at position 397(pY397-FAK)was detected to identify activated FAK,and the expression of the glycolysis-related proteins monocarboxylate transporter 1(MCT-1)and enolase1(ENO1)was assessed.Bioinformatics analysis was performed to predict putative binding sites for c-myc in the ENO1 promoter region,which were validated with chromatin immunoprecipitation(ChIP)and dual luciferase reporter assays.RESULTS The pY397-FAK level was increased in human fibrotic liver tissue.FRNK knockout promoted liver fibrosis in mouse models.It also increased the activation,migration,proliferation and aerobic glycolysis of primary hepatic stellate cells(pHSCs)but inhibited pHSC apoptosis.Nevertheless,opposite trends for these phenomena were observed after exogenous FRNK treatment in LX-2 cells.Mechanistically,the FAK/Ras/c-myc/ENO1 pathway promoted aerobic glycolysis,which was inhibited by exogenous FRNK.CONCLUSION FRNK inhibits aerobic glycolysis in HSCs by inhibiting the FAK/Ras/c-myc/ENO1 pathway,thereby improving liver fibrosis.FRNK might be a potential target for liver fibrosis treatment.展开更多
Malignant transformation of normal cells involves important structural and functional changes, particularly in cell adhesion. In this study, we wanted to assess whether changes in the expression of FAK, a tyrosine kin...Malignant transformation of normal cells involves important structural and functional changes, particularly in cell adhesion. In this study, we wanted to assess whether changes in the expression of FAK, a tyrosine kinase, which is recruited to focal adhesions and plays a key role in cell migration, proliferation and survival, could reflect the invasive capacity of bladder carcinomas. The aim of this study was to evaluate the FAK expression in cancer ceils as an important prognostic factor of the evolution of bladder carcinomas. Tumor and paired peritumoral biopsies were obtained during transurethral endoscopic resection or cystectomy of bladder tumors in 280 patients at the Urology Unit of the Mustapha Hospital of Algiers and the Hospital of Tizi-Ouzou (Algeria). The authors studied FAK expression in samples from bladder carcinomas at different stages of malignant transformation by western blot analysis using a specific anti-FAK antibody. Western blot is one of the most common laboratory techniques; it is used to detect the presence of a specific protein in a complex mixture extracted from cells. A weak increase in FAK expression was observed in tumors of grade 1 and 2 (1.65; 2.99) as compared to healthy tissues; it became particularly important in grade 3 tumors; the authors show that FAK levels significantly increased gradually according to the tumor stage.展开更多
Focal adhesion kinase(FAK)is a 125-kDa non-receptor protein tyrosine.Growth factors or the clustering of integrins facilitate the rapid phosphorylation of FAK at Tyr-397 and this in turn recruits Src-family protein ty...Focal adhesion kinase(FAK)is a 125-kDa non-receptor protein tyrosine.Growth factors or the clustering of integrins facilitate the rapid phosphorylation of FAK at Tyr-397 and this in turn recruits Src-family protein tyrosine kinases,resulting in the phosphorylation of Tyr-576 and Tyr-577 in the FAK activation loop and full catalytic FAK activation.FAK plays a critical role in the biological processes of normal and cancer cells including the gastrointestinal tract.FAK also plays an important role in the restitution,cell survival and apoptosis and carcinogenesis of the gastrointestinal tract.FAK is over-expressed in cancer cells and its over-expression and elevated activities are associated with motility and invasion of cancer cells.FAK has been proposed as a potential target in cancer therapy.Small molecule inhibitors effectively inhibit the kinase activity of FAK and show a potent inhibitory effect for the proliferation and migration of tumor cells,indicating a high potential for application in cancer therapy.展开更多
AIM: To study the role of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and its association with Src in hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)-induced cell signaling in cholangiocarcinoma progression.METHODS: Previously isolated HuCCA-1 cells ...AIM: To study the role of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and its association with Src in hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)-induced cell signaling in cholangiocarcinoma progression.METHODS: Previously isolated HuCCA-1 cells were re-characterized by immunofluorescent staining and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction assay for the expression of cytokeratin 19, HGF and c-Met mRNA. Cultured HuCCA-1 cells were treated with HGF and determined for cell proliferation and invasion effects by MTT and invasion assays. Western blotting, immunoprecipitation, and co-immunoprecipitation were also performed to study the phosphorylation and interaction of FAK and Src. A novel Src inhibitor (AZM555130) was applied in cultures to investigate the effects on FAK phosphorylation inhibition and on cell proliferation and invasion.RESULTS: HGF enhanced HuCCA-1 cell proliferation and invasion by mediating FAK and Src phosphorylations.FAK-Src interaction occurred in a time-dependent manner that Src was proved to be an upstream signaling molecule to FAK. The inhibitor to Src decreased FAK phosphorylation level in correlation with the reduction of cell proliferation and invasion.CONCLUSION: FAK plays a significant role in signaling pathway of HGF-responsive cell line derived from cholangiocarcinoma. Autophosphorylated Src, induced by HGF, mediates Src kinase activation, which subsequently phosphorylates its substrate, FAK, and signals to cell proliferation and invasion.展开更多
Objective:Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma(PDAC)is a deadly malignancy,due in large part to its resistance to conventional therapies,including radiotherapy(RT).Despite RT exerting a modest antitumor response,it has al...Objective:Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma(PDAC)is a deadly malignancy,due in large part to its resistance to conventional therapies,including radiotherapy(RT).Despite RT exerting a modest antitumor response,it has also been shown to promote an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment.Previous studies demonstrated that focal adhesion kinase inhibitors(FAKi)in clinical development inhibit the infiltration of suppressive myeloid cells and T regulatory(T regs)cells,and subsequently enhance effector T cell infiltration.FAK inhibitors in clinical development have not been investigated in combination with RT in preclinical murine models or clinical studies.Thus,we investigated the impact of FAK inhibition on RT,its potential as an RT sensitizer and immunomodulator in a murine model of PDAC.Methods:We used a syngeneic orthotopic murine model to study the effect of FAKi on hypofractionated RT.Results:In this study we showed that IN10018,a small molecular FAKi,enhanced antitumor response to RT.Antitumor activity of the combination of FAKi and RT is T cell dependent.FAKi in combination with RT enhanced CD8+T cell infiltration significantly in comparison to the radiation or FAKi treatment alone(P<0.05).FAKi in combination with radiation inhibited the infiltration of granulocytes but enhanced the infiltration of macrophages and T regs in comparison with the radiation or FAKi treatment alone(P<0.01).Conclusions:These results support the clinical development of FAKi as a radiosensitizer for PDAC and combining FAKi with RT to prime the tumor microenvironment of PDAC for immunotherapy.展开更多
Objective: To study focal adhesion kinase (FAK) expression in hypoxic HepG2 cells and the effect of FAK siRNA on cytoskeletal arrangement of HepG2 cells induced by hypoxia. Methods: HepG2 cells were cultured in 21...Objective: To study focal adhesion kinase (FAK) expression in hypoxic HepG2 cells and the effect of FAK siRNA on cytoskeletal arrangement of HepG2 cells induced by hypoxia. Methods: HepG2 cells were cultured in 21% O2 and 1% O2. Morphological changes were observed after hypoxia treatment. Western blot was used to measure FAK expression. The siRNA expression vector pshRNA-FAK targeting the mRNA of FAK and vector pGensil-2 (as a control) were constructed, and then transfected into HepG2 cells. Western blot was used to detect FAK. The cytoskeletal arrangement of HepG2 cells transfected with pshRNA-FAK induced by hypoxia was analyzed by phalloidin. The migratory ability of HepG2 cells transfected with pshRNA-FAK induced by hypoxia was analyzed by cell migration assay. Results: Hypoxia-treated cells displayed a more elongated shape with a large degree of cell detachment. FAK expression increased in hypoxic HepG2 cells. FAK protein level was decreased by 75.64% ± 3.12% (P 〈 0.01) after the pshRNA-FAK transfection. Hypoxia induced cytoskeletal arrangement of HepG2 cells. However, cytoskeletal arrangement of HepG2 cells transfected with pshRNA-FAK induced by hypoxia was inhibited in 1% O2. As cell migration assay showed, the migrating number of HepG cells transfected with pshRNA-FAK was significantly lower than that of control (P 〈 0.05). Conclusion: The expression of FAK in hypoxic HCC might have a close relationship to the cytoskeletal arrangement of HepG2 cells induced by hypoxia. Up-regulation of FAK expression may be one of mechanisms of cytoskeletal arrangement and invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma induced by hypoxia.展开更多
Focal adhesion kinase(FAK) is a major integrin- dep-endent tyrosine phosphorylated protein, recently, FAK association with colorectal cancer(CRC) has gained at-tention. The various cancer-promoting mechanisms that ass...Focal adhesion kinase(FAK) is a major integrin- dep-endent tyrosine phosphorylated protein, recently, FAK association with colorectal cancer(CRC) has gained at-tention. The various cancer-promoting mechanisms that associated with FAK can be implicated in the progression of CRC. The interactions between structural features of FAK and various kinases could be closely related to growth, survival, and metastasis in CRC cells. These interactions include human epithelial growth factor re-ceptor, c-Met, platelet-derived growth factor receptor, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor, and Src. Such interactions can trigger the survival signaling of CRC cells and are also involved signaling downstream of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, AKT, and the extracellular regulated kinase. Based on this scientific background, many pharmaceutical companies are taking efforts to develop FAK inhibitors to treat solid cancer including CRC. Although the anti-cancer efficacies have been noted in many studies, the commercial drugs have not been deve-loped yet. Therefore, the FAK research on CRC is expec-ted to gain momentum and be highly appreciated as a potential field for developing the new drugs. Therefore, the studies on FAK that effect on the progression of human CRC s would be possible to suggest various app-roaches to CRC treatment, and FAK could be a potential target as an anticancer candidate for CRC therapies.展开更多
Liver cancer is a prevalent malignant cancer,ranking third in terms of mortality rate.Metastasis and recurrence primarily contribute to the high mortality rate of liver cancer.Hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)has low expr...Liver cancer is a prevalent malignant cancer,ranking third in terms of mortality rate.Metastasis and recurrence primarily contribute to the high mortality rate of liver cancer.Hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)has low expression of focal adhesion kinase(FAK),which increases the risk of metastasis and recurrence.Nevertheless,the efficacy of FAK phosphorylation inhibitors is currently limited.Thus,investigating the mechanisms by which FAK affects HCC metastasis to develop targeted therapies for FAK may present a novel strategy to inhibit HCC metastasis.This study examined the correlation between FAK expression and the prognosis of HCC.Additionally,we explored the impact of FAK degradation on HCC metastasis through wound healing experiments,transwell invasion experiments,and a xenograft tumor model.The expression of proteins related to epithelial-mesenchymal transition(EMT)was measured to elucidate the underlying mechanisms.The results showed that FAK PROTAC can degrade FAK,inhibit the migration and invasion of HCC cells in vitro,and notably decrease the lung metastasis of HCC in vivo.Increased expression of E-cadherin and decreased expression of vimentin indicated that EMT was inhibited.Consequently,degradation of FAK through FAK PROTAC effectively suppressed liver cancer metastasis,holding significant clinical implications for treating liver cancer and developing innovative anti-neoplastic drugs.展开更多
BACKGROUND Hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)is a major health challenge with high incidence and poor survival rates in China.Systemic therapies,particularly tyrosine kinase inhibitors(TKIs),are the first-line treatment fo...BACKGROUND Hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)is a major health challenge with high incidence and poor survival rates in China.Systemic therapies,particularly tyrosine kinase inhibitors(TKIs),are the first-line treatment for advanced HCC,but resistance is common.The Rho GTPase family member Rho GTPase activating protein 12(ARHGAP12),which regulates cell adhesion and invasion,is a potential therapeutic target for overcoming TKI resistance in HCC.However,no studies on the expression of ARHGAP12 in HCC and its role in resistance to TKIs have been reported.AIM To unveil the expression of ARHGAP12 in HCC,its role in TKI resistance and its potential associated pathways.METHODS This study used single-cell RNA sequencing(scRNA-seq)to evaluate ARHGAP12 mRNA levels and explored its mechanisms through enrichment analysis.CellChat was used to investigate focal adhesion(FA)pathway regulation.We integrated bulk RNA data(RNA-seq and microarray),immunohistochemistry and proteomics to analyze ARHGAP12 mRNA and protein levels,correlating with clinical outcomes.We assessed ARHGAP12 expression in TKI-resistant HCC,integrated conventional HCC to explore its mechanism,identified intersecting FA pathway genes with scRNA-seq data and evaluated its response to TKI and immunotherapy.RESULTS ARHGAP12 mRNA was found to be highly expressed in malignant hepatocytes and to regulate FA.In malignant hepatocytes in high-score FA groups,MDK-[integrin alpha 6(ITGA6)+integrinβ-1(ITGB1)]showed specificity in ligand-receptor interactions.ARHGAP12 mRNA and protein were upregulated in bulk RNA,immunohistochemistry and proteomics,and higher expression was associated with a worse prognosis.ARHGAP12 was also found to be a TKI resistance gene that regulated the FA pathway.ITGB1 was identified as a crossover gene in the FA pathway in both scRNA-seq and bulk RNA.High expression of ARHGAP12 was associated with adverse reactions to sorafenib,cabozantinib and regorafenib,but not to immunotherapy.CONCLUSION ARHGAP12 expression is elevated in HCC and TKI-resistant HCC,and its regulatory role in FA may underlie the TKI-resistant phenotype.展开更多
基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China,No.81860115,No.82060116 and No.81960118the Science and Technology Support Project of Guizhou Province,No.[2021]094.
文摘BACKGROUND Hepatic stellate cell(HSC)hyperactivation is a central link in liver fibrosis development.HSCs perform aerobic glycolysis to provide energy for their activation.Focal adhesion kinase(FAK)promotes aerobic glycolysis in cancer cells or fibroblasts,while FAK-related non-kinase(FRNK)inhibits FAK phosphorylation and biological functions.AIM To elucidate the effect of FRNK on liver fibrosis at the level of aerobic glycolytic metabolism in HSCs.METHODS Mouse liver fibrosis models were established by administering CCl4,and the effect of FRNK on the degree of liver fibrosis in the model was evaluated.Transforming growth factor-β1 was used to activate LX-2 cells.Tyrosine phosphorylation at position 397(pY397-FAK)was detected to identify activated FAK,and the expression of the glycolysis-related proteins monocarboxylate transporter 1(MCT-1)and enolase1(ENO1)was assessed.Bioinformatics analysis was performed to predict putative binding sites for c-myc in the ENO1 promoter region,which were validated with chromatin immunoprecipitation(ChIP)and dual luciferase reporter assays.RESULTS The pY397-FAK level was increased in human fibrotic liver tissue.FRNK knockout promoted liver fibrosis in mouse models.It also increased the activation,migration,proliferation and aerobic glycolysis of primary hepatic stellate cells(pHSCs)but inhibited pHSC apoptosis.Nevertheless,opposite trends for these phenomena were observed after exogenous FRNK treatment in LX-2 cells.Mechanistically,the FAK/Ras/c-myc/ENO1 pathway promoted aerobic glycolysis,which was inhibited by exogenous FRNK.CONCLUSION FRNK inhibits aerobic glycolysis in HSCs by inhibiting the FAK/Ras/c-myc/ENO1 pathway,thereby improving liver fibrosis.FRNK might be a potential target for liver fibrosis treatment.
文摘Malignant transformation of normal cells involves important structural and functional changes, particularly in cell adhesion. In this study, we wanted to assess whether changes in the expression of FAK, a tyrosine kinase, which is recruited to focal adhesions and plays a key role in cell migration, proliferation and survival, could reflect the invasive capacity of bladder carcinomas. The aim of this study was to evaluate the FAK expression in cancer ceils as an important prognostic factor of the evolution of bladder carcinomas. Tumor and paired peritumoral biopsies were obtained during transurethral endoscopic resection or cystectomy of bladder tumors in 280 patients at the Urology Unit of the Mustapha Hospital of Algiers and the Hospital of Tizi-Ouzou (Algeria). The authors studied FAK expression in samples from bladder carcinomas at different stages of malignant transformation by western blot analysis using a specific anti-FAK antibody. Western blot is one of the most common laboratory techniques; it is used to detect the presence of a specific protein in a complex mixture extracted from cells. A weak increase in FAK expression was observed in tumors of grade 1 and 2 (1.65; 2.99) as compared to healthy tissues; it became particularly important in grade 3 tumors; the authors show that FAK levels significantly increased gradually according to the tumor stage.
文摘Focal adhesion kinase(FAK)is a 125-kDa non-receptor protein tyrosine.Growth factors or the clustering of integrins facilitate the rapid phosphorylation of FAK at Tyr-397 and this in turn recruits Src-family protein tyrosine kinases,resulting in the phosphorylation of Tyr-576 and Tyr-577 in the FAK activation loop and full catalytic FAK activation.FAK plays a critical role in the biological processes of normal and cancer cells including the gastrointestinal tract.FAK also plays an important role in the restitution,cell survival and apoptosis and carcinogenesis of the gastrointestinal tract.FAK is over-expressed in cancer cells and its over-expression and elevated activities are associated with motility and invasion of cancer cells.FAK has been proposed as a potential target in cancer therapy.Small molecule inhibitors effectively inhibit the kinase activity of FAK and show a potent inhibitory effect for the proliferation and migration of tumor cells,indicating a high potential for application in cancer therapy.
基金Supported by the Royal Golden Jubilee PhD Program of the Thailand Research Fund (RGJ/PHD/0112/2542)
文摘AIM: To study the role of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and its association with Src in hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)-induced cell signaling in cholangiocarcinoma progression.METHODS: Previously isolated HuCCA-1 cells were re-characterized by immunofluorescent staining and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction assay for the expression of cytokeratin 19, HGF and c-Met mRNA. Cultured HuCCA-1 cells were treated with HGF and determined for cell proliferation and invasion effects by MTT and invasion assays. Western blotting, immunoprecipitation, and co-immunoprecipitation were also performed to study the phosphorylation and interaction of FAK and Src. A novel Src inhibitor (AZM555130) was applied in cultures to investigate the effects on FAK phosphorylation inhibition and on cell proliferation and invasion.RESULTS: HGF enhanced HuCCA-1 cell proliferation and invasion by mediating FAK and Src phosphorylations.FAK-Src interaction occurred in a time-dependent manner that Src was proved to be an upstream signaling molecule to FAK. The inhibitor to Src decreased FAK phosphorylation level in correlation with the reduction of cell proliferation and invasion.CONCLUSION: FAK plays a significant role in signaling pathway of HGF-responsive cell line derived from cholangiocarcinoma. Autophosphorylated Src, induced by HGF, mediates Src kinase activation, which subsequently phosphorylates its substrate, FAK, and signals to cell proliferation and invasion.
文摘Objective:Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma(PDAC)is a deadly malignancy,due in large part to its resistance to conventional therapies,including radiotherapy(RT).Despite RT exerting a modest antitumor response,it has also been shown to promote an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment.Previous studies demonstrated that focal adhesion kinase inhibitors(FAKi)in clinical development inhibit the infiltration of suppressive myeloid cells and T regulatory(T regs)cells,and subsequently enhance effector T cell infiltration.FAK inhibitors in clinical development have not been investigated in combination with RT in preclinical murine models or clinical studies.Thus,we investigated the impact of FAK inhibition on RT,its potential as an RT sensitizer and immunomodulator in a murine model of PDAC.Methods:We used a syngeneic orthotopic murine model to study the effect of FAKi on hypofractionated RT.Results:In this study we showed that IN10018,a small molecular FAKi,enhanced antitumor response to RT.Antitumor activity of the combination of FAKi and RT is T cell dependent.FAKi in combination with RT enhanced CD8+T cell infiltration significantly in comparison to the radiation or FAKi treatment alone(P<0.05).FAKi in combination with radiation inhibited the infiltration of granulocytes but enhanced the infiltration of macrophages and T regs in comparison with the radiation or FAKi treatment alone(P<0.01).Conclusions:These results support the clinical development of FAKi as a radiosensitizer for PDAC and combining FAKi with RT to prime the tumor microenvironment of PDAC for immunotherapy.
基金Supported by grants from National Science Foundation of China (No. 30873038) and Young Research Foundation of Health Department of Hubei Province, China (No. QJX2008-3). We are grateful to Dr. Zhaokang Hu (North Carolina State University) for helpful discussion.
文摘Objective: To study focal adhesion kinase (FAK) expression in hypoxic HepG2 cells and the effect of FAK siRNA on cytoskeletal arrangement of HepG2 cells induced by hypoxia. Methods: HepG2 cells were cultured in 21% O2 and 1% O2. Morphological changes were observed after hypoxia treatment. Western blot was used to measure FAK expression. The siRNA expression vector pshRNA-FAK targeting the mRNA of FAK and vector pGensil-2 (as a control) were constructed, and then transfected into HepG2 cells. Western blot was used to detect FAK. The cytoskeletal arrangement of HepG2 cells transfected with pshRNA-FAK induced by hypoxia was analyzed by phalloidin. The migratory ability of HepG2 cells transfected with pshRNA-FAK induced by hypoxia was analyzed by cell migration assay. Results: Hypoxia-treated cells displayed a more elongated shape with a large degree of cell detachment. FAK expression increased in hypoxic HepG2 cells. FAK protein level was decreased by 75.64% ± 3.12% (P 〈 0.01) after the pshRNA-FAK transfection. Hypoxia induced cytoskeletal arrangement of HepG2 cells. However, cytoskeletal arrangement of HepG2 cells transfected with pshRNA-FAK induced by hypoxia was inhibited in 1% O2. As cell migration assay showed, the migrating number of HepG cells transfected with pshRNA-FAK was significantly lower than that of control (P 〈 0.05). Conclusion: The expression of FAK in hypoxic HCC might have a close relationship to the cytoskeletal arrangement of HepG2 cells induced by hypoxia. Up-regulation of FAK expression may be one of mechanisms of cytoskeletal arrangement and invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma induced by hypoxia.
文摘Focal adhesion kinase(FAK) is a major integrin- dep-endent tyrosine phosphorylated protein, recently, FAK association with colorectal cancer(CRC) has gained at-tention. The various cancer-promoting mechanisms that associated with FAK can be implicated in the progression of CRC. The interactions between structural features of FAK and various kinases could be closely related to growth, survival, and metastasis in CRC cells. These interactions include human epithelial growth factor re-ceptor, c-Met, platelet-derived growth factor receptor, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor, and Src. Such interactions can trigger the survival signaling of CRC cells and are also involved signaling downstream of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, AKT, and the extracellular regulated kinase. Based on this scientific background, many pharmaceutical companies are taking efforts to develop FAK inhibitors to treat solid cancer including CRC. Although the anti-cancer efficacies have been noted in many studies, the commercial drugs have not been deve-loped yet. Therefore, the FAK research on CRC is expec-ted to gain momentum and be highly appreciated as a potential field for developing the new drugs. Therefore, the studies on FAK that effect on the progression of human CRC s would be possible to suggest various app-roaches to CRC treatment, and FAK could be a potential target as an anticancer candidate for CRC therapies.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China Fund Project(82272956).
文摘Liver cancer is a prevalent malignant cancer,ranking third in terms of mortality rate.Metastasis and recurrence primarily contribute to the high mortality rate of liver cancer.Hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)has low expression of focal adhesion kinase(FAK),which increases the risk of metastasis and recurrence.Nevertheless,the efficacy of FAK phosphorylation inhibitors is currently limited.Thus,investigating the mechanisms by which FAK affects HCC metastasis to develop targeted therapies for FAK may present a novel strategy to inhibit HCC metastasis.This study examined the correlation between FAK expression and the prognosis of HCC.Additionally,we explored the impact of FAK degradation on HCC metastasis through wound healing experiments,transwell invasion experiments,and a xenograft tumor model.The expression of proteins related to epithelial-mesenchymal transition(EMT)was measured to elucidate the underlying mechanisms.The results showed that FAK PROTAC can degrade FAK,inhibit the migration and invasion of HCC cells in vitro,and notably decrease the lung metastasis of HCC in vivo.Increased expression of E-cadherin and decreased expression of vimentin indicated that EMT was inhibited.Consequently,degradation of FAK through FAK PROTAC effectively suppressed liver cancer metastasis,holding significant clinical implications for treating liver cancer and developing innovative anti-neoplastic drugs.
基金Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China,No.82260581Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Health Committee Scientific Research Project,No.Z20201147+3 种基金Guangxi Medical University Education and Teaching Reform Project,No.2021XJGA02Undergraduate Teaching Reform Project of Guangxi Higher Education,No.2023JGB163Guangxi Medical University Teacher Teaching Ability Development Project,No.2202JFA20China Undergraduate Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program,No.S202310598170.
文摘BACKGROUND Hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)is a major health challenge with high incidence and poor survival rates in China.Systemic therapies,particularly tyrosine kinase inhibitors(TKIs),are the first-line treatment for advanced HCC,but resistance is common.The Rho GTPase family member Rho GTPase activating protein 12(ARHGAP12),which regulates cell adhesion and invasion,is a potential therapeutic target for overcoming TKI resistance in HCC.However,no studies on the expression of ARHGAP12 in HCC and its role in resistance to TKIs have been reported.AIM To unveil the expression of ARHGAP12 in HCC,its role in TKI resistance and its potential associated pathways.METHODS This study used single-cell RNA sequencing(scRNA-seq)to evaluate ARHGAP12 mRNA levels and explored its mechanisms through enrichment analysis.CellChat was used to investigate focal adhesion(FA)pathway regulation.We integrated bulk RNA data(RNA-seq and microarray),immunohistochemistry and proteomics to analyze ARHGAP12 mRNA and protein levels,correlating with clinical outcomes.We assessed ARHGAP12 expression in TKI-resistant HCC,integrated conventional HCC to explore its mechanism,identified intersecting FA pathway genes with scRNA-seq data and evaluated its response to TKI and immunotherapy.RESULTS ARHGAP12 mRNA was found to be highly expressed in malignant hepatocytes and to regulate FA.In malignant hepatocytes in high-score FA groups,MDK-[integrin alpha 6(ITGA6)+integrinβ-1(ITGB1)]showed specificity in ligand-receptor interactions.ARHGAP12 mRNA and protein were upregulated in bulk RNA,immunohistochemistry and proteomics,and higher expression was associated with a worse prognosis.ARHGAP12 was also found to be a TKI resistance gene that regulated the FA pathway.ITGB1 was identified as a crossover gene in the FA pathway in both scRNA-seq and bulk RNA.High expression of ARHGAP12 was associated with adverse reactions to sorafenib,cabozantinib and regorafenib,but not to immunotherapy.CONCLUSION ARHGAP12 expression is elevated in HCC and TKI-resistant HCC,and its regulatory role in FA may underlie the TKI-resistant phenotype.