title: HtrA1 regulates epithelial-mesenchymal transition in hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is involved in the development and progression of cancer. HtrA1 had been showed to play a modulatory role in metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The relationship between HtrA1 and EMT in HCC was investigated in the present study.
  
  
  METHODS
  The HtrA1 expression in human HCC tumor tissues and cells was determined by real-time PCR. SiRNA-HtrA1 and pcDNA-HtrA1 were respectively transfected into HepG2 and MHCC97H cells to observe their effects on cell migration and expression of EMT-associated markers Vimentin and E-cadherin. The relationship between HtrA1 and EMT in 60 HCC patients was also investigated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  HtrA1 expression of tumor tissues was down-regulated with the increasing of number in lymph nodes metastasis in HCC patients. HtrA1 down-regulation led to the significant increase of cell migration, Vimentin expression and decrease of E-cadherin expression, while HtrA1 overexpression resulted in an opposite function. The HtrA1 expression was positively related to the E-cadherin level (R(2) = 0.5903, P < 0.001) and negatively correlated with Vimentin level (R(2) = 0.6067, P < 0.001) in tumor tissues of HCC, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HtrA1 expression was closely related to EMT, which might be a potential mechanism underlying metastasis of HCC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, ChangZhou 213003, Jiangsu Province, China. Electronic address: zhufengchzh@163.com.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, ChangZhou 213003, Jiangsu Province, China.
authors.forename: Yun-Fei
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, ChangZhou 213003, Jiangsu Province, China.
authors.forename: Wan-Yuan
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Bao
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, ChangZhou 213003, Jiangsu Province, China.
authors.forename: Wen-Song
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, ChangZhou 213003, Jiangsu Province, China.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, ChangZhou 213003, Jiangsu Province, China.
authors.forename: Hui-Hua
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Cai
mesh_terms: D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D058750:Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition / Q000502:physiology*; D000074289:High-Temperature Requirement A Serine Peptidase 1; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000166:cytology*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D000074289:High-Temperature Requirement A Serine Peptidase 1; C474012:HTRA1 protein, human; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases
keywords: EMT; Hepatocellular carcinoma; HtrA1; Metastasis