OncoTargets and Therapy (Sep 2019)
MAGEC2 Correlates With Unfavorable Prognosis And Promotes Tumor Development In HCC Via Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition
Abstract
Xuefeng Gu,1,2,* Yuan Mao,3,* Chuanbing Shi,4 Wei Ye,2 Ning Hou,5 Li Xu,5 Yan Chen,5 Wei Zhao1,2 1Medical School, Southeast University, Nanjing, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Liver Disease, The Second Hospital of Nanjing, Medical School, Southeast University, Nanjing, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Hematology and Oncology, Geriatric Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Jiangsu Province Geriatric Hospital, Nanjing, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Pathology, Pukou District Central Hospital, Pukou Branch of Jiangsu Province Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, People’s Republic of China; 5Department of Pathology, Jiangsu Cancer Hospital, Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Wei ZhaoMedical School, Southeast University, 87 Dingjiaqiao Street, 210000 Nanjing, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 25 8362-6000Fax +86 25 8362-6060Email [email protected]: Although MAGEC2 was first cloned from a human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cDNA library by serum screening, the detailed attributes of MAGEC2 in HCC have rarely been elucidated.Patients and methods: In this study, The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases were consulted to analyse the expression of MAGEC2 mRNA in liver cancer. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) analysis was performed to detect MAGEC2 expression in HCC, and the relationship between MAGEC2 expression and the clinicopathological characteristics of HCC patients was evaluated. Then, we employed the short hairpin (sh)RNA-mediated knockdown of MAGEC2 in HCC cell lines to explore the function of MAGEC2 in HCC development. Finally, the expression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers in HCC xenografts and clinical samples was investigated.Results: The results showed a remarkably higher level of MAGEC2 expression in HCC tissues than in noncancerous tissues, and MAGEC2 expression could be used as an independent prognostic factor for overall survival in HCC. Moreover, sh-MAGEC2 inhibited a series of HCC malignant behaviours both in vitro and in vivo. Finally, decreased MAGEC2 expression and low levels of EMT markers were detected in sh-MAGEC2 xenografts, while increased MAGEC2 expression and high levels of EMT markers were observed in invasive and metastatic HCC samples.Conclusion: Taken together, our data imply that MAGEC2 is a novel prognostic marker for HCC and that MAGEC2 significantly promotes HCC tumourigenesis by inducing EMT. Targeting MAGEC2 may provide a promising therapeutic strategy for HCC treatment.Keywords: MAGEC2, hepatocellular carcinoma, prognosis, tumourigenesis, EMT
