Hypoxia promotes epithelial-mesenchymal transition of hepatocellular carcinoma cells via inducing Twist1 expression

X.-D. Zhang, X.-Q. Dong, J.-L. Xu, S.-C. Chen, Z. Sun

Department of Pathology, Liaocheng People’s Hospital, Liaocheng, Shandong, P.R. China. lcxujunlong@163.com

---

• Oncology

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether hypoxia microenvironment induced hepatocellular carcinoma cells SMMC-7721 epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and to explore the underlying molecular mechanism.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, SMMC-7721 cells were cultured under normoxia and hypoxia conditions, respectively. RT-PCR and Western blot were used to monitor the expression level of EMT-related markers, E-cadherin, and vimentin, as well as hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) and Twist1. Then we performed the transwell invasion assays to detect the ability of cell invasion.

RESULTS: The results demonstrated that hypoxia micro-environment could induce hepatocellular carcinoma cells SMMC-7721 EMT and enhance the cell invasion ability. Furthermore, knockdown of Twist1 by using specific siRNA could reverse hypoxia-induced EMT process.

CONCLUSIONS: Hypoxia promotes hepatocellular carcinoma cells SMMC-7721 EMT by upregulating the expression of Twist1.

Free PDF Download