title: Epigenetic upregulation of HGF and c-Met drives metastasis in hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and its receptor, c-Met, are important regulators of growth and differentiation of healthy hepatocytes. However, upregulation of HGF and c-Met have been associated with tumor progression and metastasis in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Hematogenous dissemination is the most common route for cancer metastasis, but the role of HGF and c-Met in circulating tumor cells (CTCs) is unknown. We have isolated and established a circulating tumor cell line from the peripheral blood of a mouse HCC model. Our studies show that these CTCs have increased expression of HGF and c-Met in comparison to the primary tumor cells. The CTCs display phenotypic evidence of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and the EMT appears to be inducible by HGF. Epigenetic analysis of the c-Met promoter identified significant loss of DNA methylation in CTCs which correlated with overexpression of c-Met and increased expression of HGF. Six specific CpG sites of c-Met promoter demethylation were identified. CTCs show significantly increased tumorigenicity and metastatic potential in a novel orthotopic syngeneic model of metastatic HCC. We conclude that during hematogenous dissemination in HCC, CTCs undergo EMT under the influence of increased HGF. This process also involves up regulation of c-Met via promoter demethylation at 6 CpG sites. Consequently, targeting HGF and c-Met expression by CTCs may be a novel non-invasive approach with potential clinical applications in HCC management.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Immunology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America.
authors.forename: Olorunseun O
authors.initials: OO
authors.lastname: Ogunwobi
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Puszyk
authors.forename: Hui-Jia
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D063646:Carcinogenesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D019175:DNA Methylation / Q000235:genetics; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D058750:Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition / Q000235:genetics; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D008648:Mesoderm / Q000473:pathology; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008954:Models, Biological; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009360:Neoplastic Cells, Circulating / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D019859:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-met / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D015854:Up-Regulation / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor; D019859:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-met