Study on the significance and mechanism of ASGR1 in hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

Objective·To explore the significance and mechanism of asialoglycoprotein receptor 1 (ASGR1) in hepatocellular carcinoma.Methods·The expression of ASGR1 in patients with liver cancer in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database was analyzed by R language and the related survival curves were drawn. The Human Protein Atlas (HPA) database was used to obtain the immunohistochemistry (IHC) data of normal human liver tissue and liver cancer tissue to analyze the protein expression of ASGR1. By using the hydrodynamic tail vein injection (HTVI) delivery method, Asgr1 was knocked out in the liver of fully immune mice to explore its tumorigenic function in vivo. Gene knockout efficiency was verified by Western blotting (WB). The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis and correlation analysis were performed by using R language. The GSEA hallmark correlation pathway analysis was performed by using Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) software. The expression level of key genes of glycolysis in mouse liver cancer tissue was verified by quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR).Results·ASGR1 was significantly low-expressed in liver cancer tissue, and the low expression of ASGR1 in liver cancer patients was associated with poorer overall survival (OS), disease-free interval (DFI), progression-free interval (PFI), and disease-specific survival (DSS). The higher the degree of tumor grade, the lower the expression level of ASGR1 in patients with liver cancer. Immunohistochemistry showed that the protein expression of ASGR1 in normal human liver tissue was significantly higher than that in liver cancer tissue. In an immunocompetent mouse model of hepatocellular carcinoma, knockout of endogenous Asgr1 in mice increased the size and number of tumor nodules in liver tissue. In the TCGA database, patients with liver cancer in the ASGR1 low-expression group were enriched in multiple cancer and metabolic pathways. The expression of ASGR1 was negatively correlated with some key genes of glycolysis. The level of glycolysis in liver cancer tissues of mice in the Asgr1 knockout group was higher than that in the control group. It was suggested that the low expression of ASGR1 be likely to promote the growth and development of liver cancer and strengthen metabolic reprogramming to promote the anabolic development of tumors.Conclusion·The expression of ASGR1 is significantly reduced in patients with liver cancer, which is positively correlated with the prognosis of patients. Knocking out Asgr1 in mice can promote the occurrence and development of hepatocellular carcinoma. ASGR1 can be used as a potential biomarker for poor prognosis of liver cancer and a new target for potential treatment.

Keywords

• asialoglycoprotein receptor 1 (asgr1)
• hepatocellular carcinoma
• hydrodynamic tail vein injection
• therapeutic target