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BMC Cancer
Published in: BMC Cancer 1/2015

Open Access 01-12-2015 | Research article

Nrf2 is a potential prognostic marker and promotes proliferation and invasion in human hepatocellular carcinoma

Authors: Mingxin Zhang, Chao Zhang, Lingmin Zhang, Qi Yang, Suna Zhou, Qinsheng Wen, Jingjie Wang

Published in: BMC Cancer | Issue 1/2015

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Abstract

Background

Nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2 or NFE2L2) is abundantly expressed in cancer cells and relates to proliferation, invasion, and chemoresistance. Our early observations also found that expression of Nrf2 was up-regulated in kinds of cancer including human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. But there are limited reports about the expression, significance, function of Nrf2 in HCC.

Methods

First, Nrf2 expression was analyzed in HCC cell lines and tumor samples. Then, the relationship of Nrf2 with clinicopathological factors and survival were analyzed. Further, the effect of Nrf2 on cell proliferation, apoptosis, and metastasis was examined in vitro by modulating expression of Nrf2 through specific shRNA or expression plasmid. Last, the potential mechanisms were also investigated.

Results

Nrf2 was up-regulated in HCC, and expression of Nrf2 was correlated with tumor differentiation, metastasis, and tumor size. Univariate and multivariate analyses indicated that high Nrf2 expression might be a poor prognostic factor. Further studies demonstrated that inhibition of Nrf2 expression inhibited proliferation by inducing apoptosis and repressed invasion, and up-regulation of Nrf2 expression resulted in opposite phenotypes. Moreover, there are positive correlation between Nrf2 expression and that of Bcl-xL and MMP-9.

Conclusion

Nrf2 is a potential prognostic marker and promotes proliferation and invasion in human hepatocellular carcinoma partly through regulating expression of Bcl-xL and MMP-9.
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Metadata
Title
Nrf2 is a potential prognostic marker and promotes proliferation and invasion in human hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors
Mingxin Zhang
Chao Zhang
Lingmin Zhang
Qi Yang
Suna Zhou
Qinsheng Wen
Jingjie Wang
Publication date
01-12-2015
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Cancer / Issue 1/2015
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2407
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-015-1541-1

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