Abstract
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a highly aggressive cancer with no currently available effective treatment. Understanding of the molecular mechanism of HCC development and progression is imperative for developing novel, effective, and targeted therapies for this lethal disease. In this article, we document that the cellular transcription factor Late SV40 Factor (LSF) plays an important role in HCC pathogenesis. LSF protein was significantly overexpressed in human HCC cells compared to normal hepatocytes. In 109 HCC patients, LSF protein was overexpressed in >90% cases, compared to normal liver, and LSF expression level showed significant correlation with the stages and grades of the disease. Forced overexpression of LSF in less aggressive HCC cells resulted in highly aggressive, angiogenic, and multiorgan metastatic tumors in nude mice. Conversely, inhibition of LSF significantly abrogated growth and metastasis of highly aggressive HCC cells in nude mice. Microarray studies revealed that as a transcription factor, LSF modulated specific genes regulating invasion, angiogenesis, chemoresistance, and senescence. The expression of osteopontin (OPN), a gene regulating every step in tumor progression and metastasis, was robustly up-regulated by LSF. It was documented that LSF transcriptionally up-regulates OPN, and loss-of-function studies demonstrated that OPN plays an important role in mediating the oncogenic functions of LSF. Together, these data establish a regulatory role of LSF in cancer, particularly HCC pathogenesis, and validate LSF as a viable target for therapeutic intervention.
Highlights
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a highly aggressive cancer with no currently available effective treatment
Our recent studies reveal that astrocyte elevated gene-1 (AEG-1) is overexpressed in >90% of human HCC patients, compared to normal liver, and AEG-1 plays a key role in regulating development and progression of HCC [5]
The transcription factor Late SV40 Factor (LSF) was identified as a downstream gene of AEG-1, and we demonstrated that LSF mediates, in part, AEG-1-induced resistance to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) in HCC cells [5, 6]
Summary
Transcription factor Late SV40 Factor (LSF) functions as an oncogene in hepatocellular carcinoma. It was documented that LSF transcriptionally up-regulates OPN, and loss-of-function studies demonstrated that OPN plays an important role in mediating the oncogenic functions of LSF. Together, these data establish a regulatory role of LSF in cancer, HCC pathogenesis, and validate LSF as a viable target for therapeutic intervention. As such, understanding the molecular mechanism of HCC development and progression is imperative to establish novel, effective, and targeted therapies for this highly aggressive cancer. Our recent studies reveal that astrocyte elevated gene-1 (AEG-1) is overexpressed in >90% of human HCC patients, compared to normal liver, and AEG-1 plays a key role in regulating development and progression of HCC [5]. We performed a detailed experimental analysis to elucidate the role of LSF in hepatocarcinogenesis
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