Effect of Inhibiting of HBx expression on epithelial-mesenchymal transition and apoptosis of liver cancer cells / 中华肝胆外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the effects and possible mechanism of action of inhibiting hepatitis B virus X protein (HBx) expression on liver cancer metastasis. Methods The suppression of HBx expression in MHCC97H cells was performed by siRNA interference technique, and the effects of HBx suppression on the metastasis of MHCC97H cells were detected by Matrigel invasion assays and in a lung-metastasis mouse model. The expression levels of related epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and apoptosis proteins were examined by Western blotting. Results Introduction of HBx-siRNA into MHCC97H cells inhibited the expression of HBx and the ability to metastasize,downregulated the expression of Twist and N-cadherin, and upregulated E-cadherin expression. These changes resulted in inhibiting EMT of MHCC97H cells. Meanwhile, apoptosis involved in the Twist-P53 pathway was also found. Conclusions Inhibiting expression of HBx can decrease the metastatic a-bility of MHCC97H cells by changing EMT and inducing apoptosis.