Yonglong Pan1,2, Mengzhen Han1,2, Xiaochao Zhang1,2, Yi He1,2, Chaoyi Yuan1,2, Yixiao Xiong1,2, Xinxin Li1,2, Chenglong Zeng1,2, Kan Lu1,2, He Zhu1,2, Xun Lu1,2, Qiumeng Liu1,2, Huifang Liang1,2, Zhibin Liao1,2,3,4,5, Zeyang Ding1,2,3,4,5, Zhanguo Zhang1,2,3,4,5, Xiaoping Chen1,2,3,4,5, Wanguang Zhang6,7,8,9,10, Bixiang Zhang11,12,13,14,15. 1. Hepatic Surgery Center, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1095 Jiefang Avenue, Wuhan, 430030, China. 2. Clinical Medical Research Center of Hepatic Surgery at Hubei Province, Wuhan, China. 3. Key Laboratory of Organ Transplantation, Ministry of Education, Wuhan, China. 4. Key Laboratory of Organ Transplantation, National Health Commission, Wuhan, China. 5. Key Laboratory of Organ Transplantation, Chinese Academy of Medical Science, Wuhan, China. 6. Hepatic Surgery Center, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1095 Jiefang Avenue, Wuhan, 430030, China. wgzhang@tjh.tjmu.edu.cn. 7. Clinical Medical Research Center of Hepatic Surgery at Hubei Province, Wuhan, China. wgzhang@tjh.tjmu.edu.cn. 8. Key Laboratory of Organ Transplantation, Ministry of Education, Wuhan, China. wgzhang@tjh.tjmu.edu.cn. 9. Key Laboratory of Organ Transplantation, National Health Commission, Wuhan, China. wgzhang@tjh.tjmu.edu.cn. 10. Key Laboratory of Organ Transplantation, Chinese Academy of Medical Science, Wuhan, China. wgzhang@tjh.tjmu.edu.cn. 11. Hepatic Surgery Center, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1095 Jiefang Avenue, Wuhan, 430030, China. bixiangzhang@163.com. 12. Clinical Medical Research Center of Hepatic Surgery at Hubei Province, Wuhan, China. bixiangzhang@163.com. 13. Key Laboratory of Organ Transplantation, Ministry of Education, Wuhan, China. bixiangzhang@163.com. 14. Key Laboratory of Organ Transplantation, National Health Commission, Wuhan, China. bixiangzhang@163.com. 15. Key Laboratory of Organ Transplantation, Chinese Academy of Medical Science, Wuhan, China. bixiangzhang@163.com.
Abstract
PURPOSE: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common cancers in the world with a high mortality rate. Receptor tyrosine kinases play important roles in the occurrence and development of various cancers. Discoid protein domain receptor 1 (DDR1) is a special type of transmembrane receptor tyrosine kinase. Here, we show that the expression of DDR1 is significantly increased in HCC and is related to a poor clinical prognosis. METHODS: The expression of DDR1 in HCC cell lines and primary HCC specimens was evaluated using Western blotting and immunohistochemistry. A correlation between DDR1 and SLC1A5 expression was also investigated in primary HCC specimens. Cell proliferation was evaluated using in vitro CCK8 and colony formation assays. Gene knock-down and overexpression assays, CHX, NH4CL and Mg132 interference tests and immunoprecipitation, as well as nude mouse xenograft models were used to assess the mechanism by which DDR1 promotes tumorigenesis in vitro and in vivo. RESULTS: We found that DDR1 promotes the proliferation of HCC cells and accelerates the growth of HCC tumor xenografts, while DDR1 downregulation had the opposite effect. We also found that loss or gain of DDR1 expression affected HCC cell cycle progression. Mechanistically, we found that DDR1 interacts with SLC1A5, which belongs to the solute carrier (SLC) family of transporters, and regulates its stability, thereby affecting the mTORC1 signaling pathway. In addition, we found that SLC1A5 regulation by DDR1 can be restored by lysosome inhibitors. We also found that DDR1 is highly expressed in HCC tissues and that increased DDR1 expression predicts a shorter overall survival (OS) time. We additionally found that the expression of SLC1A5 was positively correlated with that of DDR1. Together, our data indicate that DDR1 acts as a tumor-promoting factor that can control HCC cell proliferation and cell cycle progression by stabilizing SLC1A5 in a lysosome-dependent way. CONCLUSIONS: Our study reveals a new mechanism by which DDR1 plays a liver cancer-promoting role. We also found that DDR1 expression serves as an independent prognostic marker, and that DDR1 and SLC1A5 expression levels are positively correlated in clinical samples. Our findings provide a new perspective for understanding HCC development and offers new targets for the treatment and management of HCC.
PURPOSE: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common cancers in the world with a high mortality rate. Receptor tyrosine kinases play important roles in the occurrence and development of various cancers. Discoid protein domain receptor 1 (DDR1) is a special type of transmembrane receptor tyrosine kinase. Here, we show that the expression of DDR1 is significantly increased in HCC and is related to a poor clinical prognosis. METHODS: The expression of DDR1 in HCC cell lines and primary HCC specimens was evaluated using Western blotting and immunohistochemistry. A correlation between DDR1 and SLC1A5 expression was also investigated in primary HCC specimens. Cell proliferation was evaluated using in vitro CCK8 and colony formation assays. Gene knock-down and overexpression assays, CHX, NH4CL and Mg132 interference tests and immunoprecipitation, as well as nude mouse xenograft models were used to assess the mechanism by which DDR1 promotes tumorigenesis in vitro and in vivo. RESULTS: We found that DDR1 promotes the proliferation of HCC cells and accelerates the growth of HCC tumor xenografts, while DDR1 downregulation had the opposite effect. We also found that loss or gain of DDR1 expression affected HCC cell cycle progression. Mechanistically, we found that DDR1 interacts with SLC1A5, which belongs to the solute carrier (SLC) family of transporters, and regulates its stability, thereby affecting the mTORC1 signaling pathway. In addition, we found that SLC1A5 regulation by DDR1 can be restored by lysosome inhibitors. We also found that DDR1 is highly expressed in HCC tissues and that increased DDR1 expression predicts a shorter overall survival (OS) time. We additionally found that the expression of SLC1A5 was positively correlated with that of DDR1. Together, our data indicate that DDR1 acts as a tumor-promoting factor that can control HCC cell proliferation and cell cycle progression by stabilizing SLC1A5 in a lysosome-dependent way. CONCLUSIONS: Our study reveals a new mechanism by which DDR1 plays a liver cancer-promoting role. We also found that DDR1 expression serves as an independent prognostic marker, and that DDR1 and SLC1A5 expression levels are positively correlated in clinical samples. Our findings provide a new perspective for understanding HCC development and offers new targets for the treatment and management of HCC.
Authors: Chiara Ambrogio; Gonzalo Gómez-López; Mattia Falcone; August Vidal; Ernest Nadal; Nicola Crosetto; Rafael B Blasco; Pablo J Fernández-Marcos; Montserrat Sánchez-Céspedes; Xiaomei Ren; Zhen Wang; Ke Ding; Manuel Hidalgo; Manuel Serrano; Alberto Villanueva; David Santamaría; Mariano Barbacid Journal: Nat Med Date: 2016-02-08 Impact factor: 53.440
Authors: Freddie Bray; Jacques Ferlay; Isabelle Soerjomataram; Rebecca L Siegel; Lindsey A Torre; Ahmedin Jemal Journal: CA Cancer J Clin Date: 2018-09-12 Impact factor: 508.702