Cell Death Discovery (May 2024)

IL-17a promotes hepatocellular carcinoma by increasing FAP expression in hepatic stellate cells via activation of the STAT3 signaling pathway

  • Dapeng Sun,
  • Wen Li,
  • Dongyang Ding,
  • Kunjiang Tan,
  • Wenbin Ding,
  • Zongyan Wang,
  • Siyuan Fu,
  • Guojun Hou,
  • Wei-ping Zhou,
  • Fangming Gu

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41420-024-01995-4
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 1
pp. 1 – 14

Abstract

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Abstract Studies have shown that hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) and interleukin-17a (IL-17a) play important roles in liver tumorigenesis. In addition, fibroblast activation protein-α (FAP) has been shown to be a key regulator of hepatic stellate cell activation. In this study, in vivo and in vitro experiments were performed to verify the promoting effects of IL-17a administration, IL-17a overexpression, and FAP upregulation in HSCs on liver fibrosis and liver tumorigenesis. The cleavage under targets & release using nuclease (CUT&RUN) technique was used to verify the binding status of STAT3 to the FAP promoter. The in vitro studies showed that IL-17a activated HSCs and promoted HCC development and progression. FAP and IL-17a overexpression also activated HSCs, promoted HCC cell proliferation and migration, and inhibited HCC cell apoptosis. The in vivo studies suggested that IL-17a and FAP overexpression in HSCs facilitated liver tumor development and progression. The CUT&RUN results indicated that FAP expression was regulated by STAT3, which could bind to the FAP promoter region and regulate its transcription status. We concluded that IL-17a promoted HCC by increasing FAP expression in HSCs via activation of the STAT3 signaling pathway.