title: AGK enhances angiogenesis and inhibits apoptosis via activation of the NF-κB signaling pathway in hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: High levels of angiogenesis and resistance to apoptosis are major clinical features of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a lethal disease with a high incidence worldwide. However, the precise mechanisms underlying these malignant properties remain unclear. Here, we demonstrated that acylglycerol kinase (AGK) is markedly overexpressed in HCC cell lines and clinical tissues. Immunohistochemical analysis of 245 clinical HCC specimens revealed patients with high levels of AGK expression had poorer overall survival compared to patients with low AGK expression. Furthermore, overexpressing AGK significantly enhanced angiogenesis and inhibited apoptosis in vitro and promoted the tumorigenicity of HCC cells in vivo; silencing endogenous AGK had the opposite effects. Importantly, AGK enhanced angiogenesis and inhibited apoptosis in HCC in part via activation of NF-κB signaling. Our findings provide new evidence that AGK plays an important role in promoting angiogenesis and providing resistance to apoptosis, thus AGK may represent a novel therapeutic target for HCC.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oncology in Southern China, Department of Experimental Research, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou 510060, China.
authors.forename: Yanmei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oncology in Southern China, Department of Experimental Research, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou 510060, China.
authors.forename: Chuyong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, China.
authors.forename: Zhiqiang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, China.
authors.forename: Aibin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oncology in Southern China, Department of Experimental Research, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou 510060, China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, China.
authors.forename: Jinrong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, China.
authors.forename: Geyan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, China.
authors.forename: Jueheng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, China.
authors.forename: Mengfeng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510080, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oncology in Southern China, Department of Experimental Research, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou 510060, China.
authors.forename: Libing
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Song
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D024202:Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay; D064593:Heterografts; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000378:metabolism*; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic / Q000378:metabolism*; D017853:Phosphotransferases (Alcohol Group Acceptor) / Q000378:metabolism*; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology; D014162:Transfection
chemical_list: D016328:NF-kappa B; C492429:AGK protein, human; D017853:Phosphotransferases (Alcohol Group Acceptor)