TGF-β1 promotes proliferation and invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma cell line HepG2 by activating GLI-1 signaling

S.-L. Sun, X.-Y. Wang

Department of Gastroenterology, the 6th People’s Hospital of Qingdao City, Qingdao, Shandong, China. weicui300@gmail.com

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• Oncology

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the role of GLI-1 signaling pathway on TGF-β1 induced proliferation and invasion in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell line HepG2.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cultured HepG2 cells were treated with various concentration of TGF-β1 for 24 h and the effect of TGF-β1 on invasion ability of HepG2 was detected with transwell assay. Next, cultured HepG2 cells were treated with various concentration of TGF-β1 for 12, 24 and 48 h; then, the proliferation rate was detected by MTT. The mRNA and protein expression levels of GLI-1 were detected by RT-PCR and Western blot. Furthermore, GLI-1 siRNA was used to investigate the role of GLI-1 on TGF-β1 induced proliferation and invasion.

RESULTS: The results demonstrated that TGF-β1 could promote HepG2 cells proliferation and invasion. The mRNA and protein level of GLI-1 were upregulated by TGF-β1 treatment, whereas GLI-1 siRNA could block these processes.

CONCLUSIONS: TGF-β1 promotes HCC cell line HepG2 proliferation and invasion by activating GLI-1 signaling pathway.

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