ABSTRACT
NLRC5, the largest member of nucleotide-binding and oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptor (NLR) family, has been reported to regulate immune responses and is associated with chronic inflammatory diseases. However, the biological function of NLRC5 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has not yet been well demonstrated. In this study, the role of NLRC5 in hepatocellular carcinoma cell proliferation, migration and invasion capacities was evaluated by using MTT, flow cytometry, wound healing, transwell assay, and tumor formation assay in nude mice. Western blot analysis and qPCR assay were performed to assess NLRC5 interacting with the activation of Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway. Here, we demonstrate that NLRC5 was highly expressed in HCC. Knockdown of NLRC5 significantly inhibited cell proliferation, migration, invasion and the tumor formation in nude mice, and arrested the cell cycle at G0/G1 phase. Furthermore, overexpression of NLRC5 promoted the proliferation, migration and invasion of HCC cells in vitro. Interestingly, we found that up-regulation of NLRC5 not only positively correlates with the increase of ß-catenin but also coordinates the activation of downstream Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway. Thus, our findings suggest that NLRC5 may play an important role in progression of HCC and provide a potential therapeutic value in this tumor.
Subject(s)
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/metabolism , Cell Movement , Cell Proliferation , Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins/metabolism , Liver Neoplasms/metabolism , Wnt Signaling Pathway , beta Catenin/metabolism , Adult , Animals , Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/genetics , Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/pathology , Cell Cycle Checkpoints , Female , Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic , Hep G2 Cells , Heterografts , Humans , Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins/genetics , Liver Neoplasms/genetics , Liver Neoplasms/pathology , Male , Mice, Inbred BALB C , Mice, Nude , Middle Aged , Neoplasm Invasiveness , Neoplasm Transplantation , RNA Interference , Time Factors , Transfection , Tumor Burden , Up-RegulationABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to investigate the depression-like behavior performances of subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) rat. SCH rat model was induced by hemi-thyroid electrocauterization, and the behavior performances were measured by sucrose preference test, force swimming test (FST), and tail suspension test (TST). SCH rat model was established successfully by hemi-thyroid electrocauterization. In the behavior tasks, SCH rats displayed depression-like behavior were indicated as a significant elevation of immobility time in both the TST and FST, though the sucrose preference was not significantly decreased. The index of left adrenal cortex in both SCH and clinical hypothyroidism (CH) group significantly increased, and many large lipid vacuoles were observed in the zona fasciculata cells. The serum corticosterone concentration and hypothalamic corticotropin-releasing hormone mRNA expression 2 h after behavior test was markedly up-regulated in CH rats, but not SCH rats, indicated that SCH induced a less impairment of HPA axis than CH did. The important finding of this study was that the concentration of hippocampal T3 was lower in SCH group than that of the sham group. Furthermore, the results of Pearson correlation test showed that the immobility behaviors in TST and FST were both negatively correlated with hippocampal T3 concentration. Taking together, our results indicated that SCH could result in depression-like behavior, accompanied with subtle hyperactivity of HPA axis. The reduced hippocampal T3 prior to the reduction of thyroid hormone in serum might be taken as an early sign of hippocampus impairment in the progression from SCH to CH.
