Astragaloside IV inhibits metastasis in hepatoma cells through the suppression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition via the Akt/GSK-3ß/ß-catenin pathway.

Our previous studies demonstrated that traditional Chinese herbal medicine 'Songyou Yin' inhibited the growth and invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells, and altered epithelial­mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers in oxaliplatin­treated HCC tissues and cell lines. In the present study, we aimed to explore whether astragaloside IV (AS-IV), a component of 'Songyou Yin', can affect the growth and invasion of HCC cells and the underlying mechanism involved. Human HCC cell lines Huh7 and MHCC97-H, with low and high metastatic potential, respectively, were treated with increasing doses of AS-IV. The Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8), plate clone formation, Transwell, wound healing and immunofluorescence assays were used to investigate the effects of AS-IV on HCC cell proliferation, migration and invasion. The protein expression levels were analyzed by western blotting and immunofluorescence assay. The CCK-8 and plate clone formation assays showed that AS-IV had little effect on the proliferation of HCC cells in vitro. However, the Transwell and wound healing assays demonstrated that AS-IV inhibited the migration and invasion of HCC cells in a dose-dependent manner and the morphology of HCC cells was altered from spindle into oval shaped in the AS-IV pretreated groups. The upregulation of E-cadherin and downregulation of N-cadherin, vimentin, α-SMA and Slug were also observed in the AS-IV pretreated groups. Additionally, AS-IV treatment resulted in a profound decrease in the phosphorylated forms of Akt and GSK-3ß, which in turn inhibited the expression of ß-catenin. Thus, we conclude that AS-IV attenuates the invasive and migratory abilities of HCC cells through the inhibition of EMT by targeting the Akt/GSK-3ß/ß-catenin pathway.

Over expression of hyaluronan promotes progression of HCC via CD44-mediated pyruvate kinase M2 nuclear translocation.

Hyaluronan is expressed in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) as HCC generally arises from a cirrhotic liver in which excessive production and accumulation of HA leads to developing cirrhosis. Though it has been suggested HA is involved in progression of HCC, the mechanisms underlying the connection between HA and HCC progression are unclear. Since increased aerobic glycolysis is a metabolic trait of malignant cells and HA-CD44 can modulate glucose metabolism, we aim to investigate the roles of PKM2, a key enzyme in glucose metabolism, in the HA-CD44 axis facilitated the progress of HCC. We shown PKM2 was required for HA-promoted HCC progression, which was not modulated by PKM2 kinase activity but by nuclear translocation of PKM2. PKM2 translocation was Erk (Thr202/Tyr204) phosphorylation dependent, which functioned at the downstream of HA-CD44 binding. Furthermore, elevated HA expression significantly correlated with PKM2 nuclear location and was an independent factors predicting poor HCC prognosis. In conclusions PKM2 nuclear translocation is required for mediating the described HA biological effects on HCC progression and our results imply that inhibition of HA may have therapeutic value in treating HCC.