Thy-1 promotes EMTprocess of livercancercells by regulating Notch1 pathway / 中国肿瘤生物治疗杂志

ABSTRACT

@# Objective: To explore the role of Thy-1 cell surface antigen（Thy-1）in promoting epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in liver cancer HepG2 and MHCC-97 cells by regulating Notch1 pathway. Methods: MHCC-97 cells with high metastatic characteristics and HepG2 cells with low metastatic characteristics were selected as subjects. WB was used to detect the expression levels of Thy-1 and Notch1 in cells. MHCC-97 and HepG2 cells were transfected with lentivirus to construct cells with high and low expression of Thy-1 protein. Cells were treated with Notch1 agonist rhNF-κB (1 gsu/ml) and Notch1 inhibitor MW167 (100 μmol/L) for 24 h respectively. Transwell assay was used to detect the effect of Thy-1 expression on cell invasion; qPCR was used to detect the effect on Notch1 mRNA expression; WB was used to detect the effect on intracellular EMT-related protein expression. Results: The expression levels of Thy-1 and Notch1 in MHCC-97 cells were higher than those in HepG2 cells (P<0.05). Thy-1 overexpressing HepG2 cells and Thy-1 low expressing MHCC-97 cells were successfully constructed. Compared with HepG2 cells, the invasion ability of Thy-1 overexpressing HepG2 cells was significantly enhanced (183.23±55.34 vs 475.78±80.37, P<0.05), vimentin expression was significantly increased (P<0.05), epithelial cadherin protein expression was significantly decreased (P<0.05), and the expression level of Notch1 mRNAwas significantly increased (P<0.05). Compared with MHCC-97 cells, the invasion ability of Thy-1 silenced MHCC97 cells was significantly decreased (543.56±77.94 vs 237.44±62.18, P<0.05), the expression of vimentin was significantly decreased (P<0.05), epithelial cadherin protein expression was significantly increased (P<0.05), and Notch1 mRNA expression level was significantly decreased (P<0.05). Treatment of liver cancer cells with Notch1 activators or inhibitors can reverse the changes caused by Thy-1 silencing or overexpression. Conclusion: Thy-1 can affect the EMT process of HepG2 and MHCC-97 cells by regulating the expression of Notch1.