Overexpression of VCC-1 gene in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells promotes cell proliferation and invasion.

Vascular endothelial growth factor-correlated chemokine 1 (VCC-1), a novel chemokine, is hypothesized to be associated with carcinogenesis. VCC-1 is expressed in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells, but its function remains unknown. To investigate the molecular effects of VCC-1 on HCC cells, the HCC cell line SMMC7721 was stably transfected with the recombinant plasmid pcDNA3.1/VCC-1. Our data demonstrated that overexpression of VCC-1 in SMMC7721 cells significantly enhanced the cellular proliferation, invasive ability, and tumor growth, when compared with both empty vector control cells and parental cells. These results strongly suggest that VCC-1 plays an important role in SMMC7721 invasion and tumor growth, and indicate that VCC-1 may serve as a potential biomarker for anti-HCC therapies.