title: A possible role for insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-3 autocrine/paracrine loops in controlling hepatocellular carcinoma cell proliferation.
abstract: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common malignancy, but treatment outcomes have generally remained poor. Specific factors important for the pathogenesis of HCC are incompletely understood. Insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) are potent autocrine and paracrine mitogens for liver cancer cell proliferation, and their bioactivity is reduced by IGF-binding protein 3 (IGFBP-3). In the present study, we report that IGFBP-3 protein levels were either undetectable (28.5%) or low (71.5%) in human HCC samples examined compared with matched non-neoplastic liver tissue by Western blotting. IGFBP-3 was localized to nontumor liver cells by immunohistochemistry with greater immunointensity than neoplastic liver cells. Levels of type I receptor (IGF-IR) were found to be low in approximately 39% of human HCC samples examined compared with matched nontumor tissues. IGF-II was overexpressed in 32%, whereas IGF-I expression was decreased in 100% of HCC samples. In vitro studies revealed that IGF-I and IGF-II induced HepG2 cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner. Treatment of HepG2 cells with either human recombinant IGFBP-3 (hrIGFBP-3) or IGF-II antibody led to a significant reduction in cell proliferation. Cotreating these cells with hrIGFBP-3 significantly attenuated the mitogenic activity of IGF-I. IGF-I-induced phosphorylation of IGF-IR beta subunit, IRS-1, mitogen-activated protein kinase, Elk-1, and Akt-1 as well as phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase activity was significantly attenuated when hepG2 cells were pretreated with hrIGFBP-3. Our data indicate that loss of autocrine/paracrine IGFBP-3 loops may lead to HCC tumor growth and suggest that modulating production of the IGFs, IGFBP-3, and IGF-IR may represent a novel approach in the treatment of HCC.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Endocrinology, National Cancer Centre of Singapore, Singapore. cmrhth@nccs.com.sg
authors.forename: Hung
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Huynh
authors.forename: Pierce K H
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Chow
authors.forename: London L P
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Ooi
authors.forename: Khee-Chee
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Soo
mesh_terms: D019898:Autocrine Communication; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D002455:Cell Division; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D016895:Culture Media, Serum-Free; D006801:Humans; D018972:Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 3 / Q000502:physiology*; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000378:metabolism; D007335:Insulin-Like Growth Factor II / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000378:metabolism; D008099:Liver / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D019899:Paracrine Communication; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D016895:Culture Media, Serum-Free; D018972:Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 3; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I; D007335:Insulin-Like Growth Factor II