Exportin-T promotes tumor proliferation and invasion in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Exportin-T (XPOT) belongs to the RAN-GTPase exportin family that mediates export of tRNA from the nucleus to the cytoplasm. Up-regulation of XPOT indicates poor prognosis in breast cancer patients. However, the correlation between XPOT and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unclear. Here, we found that high expression of XPOT in HCC indicated worse prognosis via bioinformatics analysis. Consistently, immunohistochemical staining of 95 pairs of tumors and adjacent normal liver tissues (ANLT) also showed up-regulation of XPOT. Small interfering (si) RNA transfection was used to down-regulate XPOT in HepG2 and 7721 cell lines. Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK8) assays were performed to analyze cell proliferation. Cell migration and invasion were measured by scratch wound healing assays and migration assays. Subcutaneous xenograft models were using to explore the role of XPOT in tumor formation in vivo. Down-regulation of XPOT significantly inhibited tumor proliferation and invasion in vitro and vivo. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) results indicated that XPOT may affect tumor progression through cell cycle and ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis. Furthermore, knockdown of XPOT caused a block in G0/G1 phase as evidenced by down-regulation of cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (CDK1), cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2), cyclin-dependent kinase 4 (CDK4), CyclinA1 (CCNA1), CyclinB1 (CCNB1), CyclinB2 (CCNB2), and CyclinE2 (CCNE2) in HCC cells. In conclusion, our findings indicate that XPOT could serve as a novel biomarker for prognoses and a potential therapeutic target for patients with HCC.

Uridine-cytidine kinase 2 upregulation predicts poor prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma and is associated with cancer aggressiveness.

Patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) continue to have a dismal prognosis. Potential biomarkers to determine prognosis and select targeted therapies are urgently needed for patients with HCC. This study aimed to elucidate the role of UCK2 in HCC prognosis and tumor progression. We performed a screen of public databases to identify functional genes associated with HCC tumorigenesis, progression, and outcome. We identified uridine-cytidine kinase 2 (UCK2) as a gene of interest for further study. UCK2 promoting HCC aggressiveness was demonstrated by evaluation of clinical samples, in vitro experiments, in vivo tumorigenicity, and transcript analysis. UCK2 expression was generally elevated in HCC and was significantly correlated with poor survival and inferior clinicopathological characteristics of HCC patients. A multivariate analysis revealed that high UCK2 expression was an independent factor for poor prognosis. In HCC cell lines, UCK2 knockdown suppressed cell migration and invasion and inhibited cell proliferation, while UCK2 overexpression had an opposite effect. Animal model experiments confirmed that knockdown of UCK2 suppressed tumor growth in vivo. The bioinformatics analysis demonstrated that UCK2 might associated with metabolsim, splicesome, and adherens junction. UCK2 is highly associated with HCC malignant behavior and is a potential prognostic predictor for HCC patients in the clinic.

Characterization of the middle hepatic artery and its relevance to living donor liver transplantation.

In comparison with the left and right hepatic arteries, there is a relative lack of information on the middle hepatic artery (MHA). In this study, data obtained by multidetector computed tomography from 145 patients were studied to evaluate anatomical variations of the MHA, a hilar artery that primarily supplies hepatic segment 4. An MHA was present in 103 (71%) of the subjects. In livers that had a replaced left hepatic artery, the MHA originated from the right hepatic artery; in livers that had a replaced right hepatic artery, it originated from the left hepatic artery. It always arose directly or indirectly from the common hepatic artery, from which the gastroduodenal artery also arose. We classified MHAs into 5 types according to the anatomical variations of the origin. This classification may have major relevance to modern surgical practice related to living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). The new classification of hepatic arterial anatomy may enhance the acquisition of further knowledge on arterial development, and its application may favorably influence the outcome of LDLT.

A tolerogenic semimature dendritic cells induce effector T-cell hyporesponsiveness by activation of antigen-specific CD4+CD25+ T regulatory cells that promotes skin allograft survival in mice.

Semimature dendritic cells (smDCs) can induce autoimmune tolerance by activation of host antigen-specific CD4(+)CD25(+) regulatory T (Treg) cells. We hypothesized that donor smDCs injected into recipients would induce effector T-cell hyporesponsiveness by activating CD4(+)CD25(+)Treg cells, and promote skin allograft survival. Myeloid smDCs were derived from C57BL/6J mice (donors) in vitro. BALB/c mice (recipients) were injected with smDCs to generate antigen-specific CD4(+)CD25(+)Treg cells in vivo. Allograft survival was prolonged when BALB/c recipients received either C57BL/6J smDCs prior to grafting or C57BL/6J smDC-derived CD4(+)CD25(+)Treg cells post-grafting, and skin flaps from these grafts showed the highest IL-10 production regardless of rapamycin treatments. Our findings confirm that smDCs constitute an independent subgroup of DCs that play a key role for inducing CD4(+)CD25(+)Treg cells to express high IL-10 levels, which induce hyporesponsiveness of effector T cells. Pre-treating recipients with donor smDCs may have potential for transplant tolerance induction.

Obg-like ATPase 1 (OLA1) overexpression predicts poor prognosis and promotes tumor progression by regulating P21/CDK2 in hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Obg-like ATPase 1 (OLA1) has been found to have a dual role in cancers. However, the relationship between OLA1 and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unclear. RESULTS: High expression of OLA1 in HCC was detected in public datasets and clinical samples, and correlated with poor prognosis. Downregulation of OLA1 significantly inhibited the proliferation, migration, invasion and tumorigenicity of HCC cells. Mechanistically, GSEA showed that OLA1 might promote tumor progression by regulating the cell cycle and apoptosis. In addition, OLA1 knockdown resulted in G0/G1 phase arrest and high levels of apoptosis. OLA1 could bind with P21 and upregulate CDK2 expression to promote HCC progression. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, these findings uncover a role for OLA1 in regulating the proliferation and apoptosis of HCC cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The Cancer Genome Atlas and Gene Expression Omnibus datasets were analyzed to identify gene expression. Immunohistochemistry staining, western blot and real-time polymerase chain reaction were performed to evaluate OLA1 expression in samples. Cell count Kit-8, wound-healing, transwell and flow cytometry assays were used to analyze HCC cell progression. Subcutaneous xenotransplantation models were used to investigate the role of OLA1 in vivo. Coimmunoprecipitation was used to analyze protein interactions.

SKA3 Promotes tumor growth by regulating CDK2/P53 phosphorylation in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Spindle and kinetochore-related complex subunit 3 (SKA3) is a component of the spindle and kinetochore-related complexes and is essential for accurate timing of late mitosis. However, the relationship between SKA3 and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has not yet been fully elucidated. Gene expression omnibus (GEO) (GSE62232, GSE45436, GSE6764, and GSE36376) and The Cancer Atlas (TCGA) datasets were analyzed to identify differential expression genes. Cell proliferation ability was analyzed using Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK8) assay and plate clone formation assay, while scratch wound healing assay and transwell assay were used to analyze cell invasion. The role of SKA3 in vivo was explored using subcutaneous xenotransplantation model and lung metastasis model. Bioinformatics analysis found that hepatocellular carcinoma patients with high levels of expression of SKA3 have a poor prognosis. Similarly, immunohistochemical staining of 236 samples of tumors also found higher SKA3 expression in them, than in adjacent normal liver tissues. Significant levels of inhibition of in vivo and in vitro tumor proliferation and invasion result from the downregulation of SKA3. Mechanistically, SKA3 was found to affect tumor progression through the cell cycle and P53 signaling pathway as shown by the gene enrichment analysis (GSEA). G2/M phase arrest and severe apoptosis was also found to result from SKA3 knockdown, as shown by the inhibition of CDK2/p53 phosphorylation together with downregulation of BAX/Bcl-2 expression in HCC cells. Overall, these findings uncover the role of SKA3 in regulating the apoptosis and proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma cells. This study was able to uncover new information on the tumorigenesis mechanism in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Exosome-related lncRNAs as predictors of HCC patient survival: a prognostic model.

OBJECTIVES: Accumulating evidence suggests that long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) may affect hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression. However, the mechanism remains unclear. Previous studies have shown that exosomes may promote tumor progression by transporting proteins. Our study aimed to determine the prognostic value of lncRNAs in HCC and the underlying mechanism. METHODS: A dataset comprising a HCC cohort of 364 patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) was analyzed to identify lncRNAs with prognostic value. Co-expression and competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) networks were constructed to investigate the mechanism of exosome-related lncRNAs. To confirm the bioinformatics analysis results, 95 pairs of clinical samples were evaluated by digoxigenin-labeled chromogenic in situ hybridization (CISH). RESULTS: Five lncRNAs (CTD-2116N20.1, AC012074.2, RP11-538D16.2, LINC00501 and RP11-136I14.5) with significant differences were identified (P<0.001). A prognostic nomogram was constructed with a C-index of 0.701. The co-expression and ceRNA networks showed possible mechanisms for CTD-2116N20.1 and RP11-538D16.2. The CISH results confirmed that CTD-2116N20.1 and RP11-538D16.2 were correlated with a poor prognosis for HCC patients. CONCLUSION: Our findings provide an independent and effective prognostic model to predict the survival rate of HCC patients. RP11-538D16.2 and CTD-2116N20.1 are highlighted as important exosome-related lncRNAs.

Management of hepatic vein occlusive disease after liver transplantation: A case report with literature review.

RATIONALE: Hepatic vein occlusive disease (HVOD) is a rare complication after liver transplantation, which is characterized by nonthrombotic, fibrous obliteration of the small centrilobular hepatic veins by connective tissue and centrilobular necrosis in zone 3 of the acini. HVOD after solid organ transplantation has been reported; recently, most of these reports with limited cases have documented that acute cell rejection and immunosuppressive agents are the major causative factors. HVOD is relatively a rare complication of liver transplantation with the incidence of approximately 2%. PATIENT CONCERNS: A 59-year-old male patient with alcoholic liver cirrhosis underwent liver transplantation in our center. He suffered ascites, renal impairment 3 months after the surgery while liver enzymes were in normal range. DIAGNOSES: Imagining and pathology showed no evidence of rejection or vessels complications. HVOD was diagnosed with pathology biopsy. INTERVENTIONS: Tacrolimus was withdrawn and the progression of HVOD was reversed. OUTCOMES: Now, this patient has been followed up for 6 months after discharge with normal liver graft function. LESSONS: The use of tacrolimus in patients after liver transplantation may cause HVOD. Patients with jaundice, body weight gain, and refractory ascites should be strongly suspected of tacrolimus related HVOD.

Clinical management of portopulmonary hypertension.

BACKGROUND: Portopulmonary hypertension (PPH) is defined as the development of pulmonary arterial hypertension associated with increased pulmonary vascular resistance complicated by portal hypertension, with or without advanced hepatic disease. In spite of the relatively rare prevalence, the clinical implications of PPH are significant. It has high perioperative morbidity and mortality. This review is an update of current pathogenesis, diagnosis and therapy of PPH. DATA SOURCES: An English-language literature search was conducted using PubMed (1980-2006) on portopulmonary hypertension. RESULTS: Echocardiographically identified patients with elevated pulmonary artery systolic pressure (>50 mmHg) receive right heart catheterization. Epoprostenol (prostacyclin), a potent pulmonary and systemic vasodilator with anti-platelet aggregating activity, and bosentan, an endothelin receptor antagonist, have so far proven beneficial to patients with PPH. CONCLUSIONS: After an accurate diagnosis of PPH, treatment should (at a minimum) focus on reduction of mean pulmonary arterial pressure to less than 35 mmHg prior to orthotopic liver transplantation. However, orthotopic liver transplantation currently remains the only therapy to resolve PPH.

Tolerogenic semimature dendritic cells induce effector T-cell hyporesponsiveness by the activation of antigen-specific CD4+ CD25+ T-regulatory cells.

OBJECTIVES: Researchers recently discovered a group of semimature dendritic cells that induce autoimmune tolerance by activating host antigen-specific CD4+CD25+ T-regulatory cells. We hypothesized that donor semimature dendritic cells injected into recipients would induce effector T-cell hyporesponsiveness by activating CD4+CD25+ T-regulatory cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Donor myeloid semimature dendritic cells were cultivated for 6 days and were then stimulated with tumor necrosis factor a for 24 hours. BALB/c mice were pretreated with semimature dendritic cells to generate antigen-specific CD4+CD25+ T-regulatory cells in vivo. The role of CD4+CD25+ T-regulatory cells in transplant immunity was studied via mixed lymphocyte culture in vitro. RESULTS: Surface markers and cytokines secreted by semimature dendritic cells differed from those secreted by immature myeloid dendritic cells or mature dendritic cells. Semimature dendritic cells and immature myeloid dendritic cells did not activate allogenic lymphocyte responses in coculture studies. CD4+CD25+ T-regulatory cells of recipients challenged by donor semimature dendritic cells, which expressed a high level of interleukin-10, induced hyporesponsiveness in host effector T cells that were stimulated by donor splenocytes. In contrast, CD4+CD25+ T-regulatory cells did not induce hyporesponsiveness in effector T cells when the host T cells were stimulated by third-party antigen from DBA2 mice splenocytes. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings confirm that semimature dendritic cells are an independent subgroup of dendritic cells in both immune function and morphologic profile. It may be the cytokine secretion profile of semimature dendritic cells (rather than that of surface markers) that has a key role in inducing CD4+CD25+ T-regulatory cells to express a high level of interleukin-10. Immunization with donor semimature dendritic cells may be an effective method of inducing transplant tolerance, but further evidencebased studies of that topic are necessary.