title: Deregulation of the NLRP3 inflammasome in hepatic parenchymal cells during liver cancer progression.
abstract: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most prevalent malignant tumors worldwide, and it is always the consequence of chronic hepatitis and liver cirrhosis. The nucleotide-binding domain, leucine-rich family (NLR), pyrin-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome has been shown to orchestrate multiple innate and adaptive immune responses. However, little is known about its role in cancer. This study was performed to investigate the role of the NLRP3 inflammasome in the development and progression of HCC. The expression of NLRP3 inflammasome components was analyzed in HCC tissues and corresponding non-cancerous liver tissues at both the mRNA and protein levels. Our data demonstrate that the expression of all of the NLRP3 inflammasome components was either completely lost or significantly downregulated in human HCC, and that the deficiency correlated significantly with advanced stages and poor pathological differentiation. In addition, our data provide an overview of the expression of NLRP3 inflammasome components in the multi-stage development of HCC and indicate a surprising link between deregulation of the NLRP3 inflammasome molecular platform and HCC progression. In conclusion, this study presents a dynamic expression pattern of NLRP3 inflammasome components in multi-stage hepatocarcinogenesis and demonstrates that deregulated expression of the inflammasome is involved in HCC progression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Shandong University School of Medicine, Jinan, China.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Shandong University School of Medicine, Jinan, China.
authors.forename: Kun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mu
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Provincial Hospital Affiliated with Shandong University, Jinan, China.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Shandong University School of Medicine, Jinan, China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Immunology, Shandong University School of Medicine, Jinan, China [2] Department of Gastroenterology, Provincial Hospital Affiliated with Shandong University, Jinan, China.
authors.forename: Zhaowen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Shandong University Qilu Hospital, Jinan, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoqing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Shandong University School of Medicine, Jinan, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Shandong University School of Medicine, Jinan, China.
authors.forename: Wanwan
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Huai
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Shandong University School of Medicine, Jinan, China.
authors.forename: Pengbo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Shandong University School of Medicine, Jinan, China.
authors.forename: Lihui
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Han
mesh_terms: D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D006651:Histocytochemistry; D006801:Humans; D058847:Inflammasomes / Q000378:metabolism*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000071199:NLR Family, Pyrin Domain-Containing 3 Protein; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D046888:Tissue Array Analysis
chemical_list: D002352:Carrier Proteins; D058847:Inflammasomes; D000071199:NLR Family, Pyrin Domain-Containing 3 Protein; C453881:NLRP3 protein, human