Gamma-smooth muscle actin expression is associated with epithelial-mesenchymal transition and stem-like properties in hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is hampered by frequent tumour recurrence and metastases. Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) is now recognized as a key process in tumour invasion, metastasis and the generation of cancer initiating cells. The morphological identification of EMT in tumour samples from the expression of novel mesenchymal markers could provide relevant prognostic information and aid in understanding the metastatic process. METHODS: The expression of Smooth Muscle Actins was studied using immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry assays in cultured liver cells during an induced EMT process and in liver specimens from adult and paediatric HCC series. RESULTS: We report here that in HCC cell lines treated with TGF-beta and in HCC specimens, the expression of alphaSMA, a known mesenchymal marker of EMT, could never be detected. In addition, our in vitro studies identified the enteric form of SMA, gammaSMA, as being a marker of EMT. Moreover, this SMA isoform was expressed in 46% of 58 tumours from 42 adult HCC patients and in 90% of 16 tumours from 12 paediatric HCC patients. Interestingly, this expression was significantly correlated with poor tumour differentiation and progenitor cell features characterized by the expression of EpCAM and K19. CONCLUSION: Taken together, our results support the conclusion that gammaSMA expression in HCC is strongly correlated with the EMT process, HCC aggressiveness and the identification of cancer stem cells. This correlation suggests that gammaSMA represents a novel and powerful marker to predict HCC progression

Post-transcriptional regulation of transferrin receptor mRNA by IFN gamma

IFN gamma inhibits the rise in transferrin receptor mRNA level which is normally observed when stationary WISH cells are stimulated to proliferate. This effect is not attributable to a change in the transcription rate of the transferrin receptor gene or in the cytoplasmic stability of the mRNA. The IFN gamma-induced reduction of the transferrin receptor mRNA content is already present at the nuclear level to an extent comparable to that observed in whole cells. Thus, IFN gamma does not impair the passage of this mRNA from the nuclear to the cytoplasmic compartment but probably interferes with a nuclear post-transcriptional event during the processing of the immature transferrin receptor mRNA. Two different levels of regulation of transferrin receptor mRNA have been previously reported. Iron modulates the cytoplasmic stability of this mRNA through the binding of a specific cytoplasmic factor, whereas cell growth variation influences the transcription of this gene. Our results suggest the existence of another mechanism of regulation for transferrin receptor gene expression not so far considered. Furthermore, the distinction between the mechanism of regulation exerted by IFN gamma and that exerted by cell proliferation on transferrin receptor gene expression suggests that, in WISH cells, the IFN-induced transferrin receptor decay is not a consequence of cell growth arrest but rather one of the causes of the antiproliferative effect of IFN through iron deprivation

Chemosensitization by erythropoietin through inhibition of the NF-κB rescue pathway

Two cell lines that exemplify erythropoietin (EPO) receptor-positive tumors, human renal carcinoma cell lines RCC and the myelomonocytic leukemia cell line U937, were investigated for the apoptosis-modulatory potential of EPO. Cells cultured in the presence of EPO exhibited an elevated apoptotic response to cancer chemotherapeutic agents such as daunorubicin (Dauno) and vinblastine (VBL). Chemosensitization by EPO did not involve an increase in p53 activation, yet correlated with enhanced Bax/Bak-dependent mitochondrial membrane perturbation and caspase maturation. In vitro monotherapy with Dauno or VBL induced the degradation of IκBα, provoked the translocation of NF-κB p65/50 to the nucleus and stimulated the expression of an NF-κB-activatable reporter gene. All these signs of NF-κB activation were perturbed in the presence of EPO. Inhibition of JAK2, one of the receptor-proximal elements of EPO-mediated signal transduction, greatly diminished the EPO-mediated chemosensitization and NF-κB inhibition. EPO lost its death-facilitating effects in the presence of an NF-κB inhibitor, underscoring the cause-effect relationship between EPO-mediated chemosensitization and NF-κB inhibition. Altogether, these results suggest that, at least in a specific subset of tumors, EPO receptor agonists can prevent activation of the NF-κB pathway, thereby enhancing the propensity of EPO receptor-positive tumor cells to undergo apoptosis