Krueppel-like factor 8 promotes cancer stem cell-like traits in hepatocellular carcinoma through Wnt/ beta -catenin signaling

Krueppel-like factor 8 (KLF8) is highly expressed in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and contributes to tumor initiation and progression by promoting HCC cell proliferation and invasion. However, the role of KLF8 in liver cancer stem cells (LCSCs) is not known. In the current study, we investigated t...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Molecular carcinogenesis 2017-02, Vol.56 (2), p.751-760
Main Authors: Shen, Yi-Nan, He, Hai-Guan, Shi, Yang, Cao, Jian, Yuan, Jian-Yong, Wang, Zhou-Chong, Shi, Chun-Feng, Zhu, Nan, Wei, Yong-Peng, Liu, Fang, Huang, Jia-Li, Yang, Guang-Shun, Lu, Jun-Hua
Format: Article
Language:English
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Krueppel-like factor 8 (KLF8) is highly expressed in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and contributes to tumor initiation and progression by promoting HCC cell proliferation and invasion. However, the role of KLF8 in liver cancer stem cells (LCSCs) is not known. In the current study, we investigated the role of KLF8 in LCSCs to determine if KLF8 is a novel marker of these cells. We found that KLF8 was highly expressed in primary HCC tumors, distant migrated tissues, and LCSCs. Patients with high KLF8 expression had a poor prognosis. KLF8 promoted stem cell-like features through activation of the Wnt/ beta -catenin signaling pathway. Cell apoptosis was significantly increased in HCC cells with knockdown of KLF8 compared with the control cells when treated with the same doses of sorafenib or cisplatin. Taken together, our study shows that KLF8 plays a potent oncogenic role in HCC tumorigenesis by maintaining stem cell-like features through activation of the Wnt/ beta -catenin signaling pathway and promoting chemoresistance. Thus, targeting KLF8 may provide an effective therapeutic approach to suppress tumorigenicity of HCC.
ISSN:0899-1987
1098-2744
DOI:10.1002/mc.22532