title: Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway may regulate the expression of angiogenic growth factors in hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: The Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway plays a key role during hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) genesis and development. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway on the expression of angiogenic growth factors involved in HCC. The HCC HepG2 cell line was transfected with small interfering RNA (siRNA) against β-catenin. After 72 and 96 h, protein was extracted and the expression levels of β-catenin, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2, MMP-9, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A, VEGF-C and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) were detected by western blot analysis. β-catenin protein expression was inhibited at both time points. Notably, MMP-2, MMP-9, VEGF-A, VEGF-C and bFGF protein expression levels decreased at 72 h and then increased at 96 h after transfection. Our results demonstrated that in HCC cells, the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway may regulate the protein expression of the angiogenic factors, MMP-2, MMP-9, VEGF-A, VEGF-C and bFGF. These proteins were downstream of β-catenin signaling and were also regulated by other factors. In conclusion, the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway may contribute to the regulation of HCC angiogenesis, infiltration and metastasis through regulating the expression of these angiogenic factors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150086, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150086, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Bing-Rong
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150086, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Ya-Ju
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: DU
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150086, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150086, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yan-Qiu
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150086, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150086, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xin-Hong
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Wang
keywords: RNA interference; angiogenesis factor; hepatocellular carcinoma; signaling pathway; β-catenin