Effect Of Golgi Phosphoprotein 2 (GOLPH2/GP73) On Proliferation And Metastasis In Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells

Background/AimGolgi phosphoprotein 2 (GP73) is highly expressed in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells, where it serves as a biomarker and indicator of disease progression. Though some studies indicate it is associated with cell proliferation, the concrete mechanism is unknown. This study aims to explain the relationships between GP73 expression and cell proliferation or cell migration.Methods1.Silencing GP73 by GP73 specific siRNA in HepG2, SMMC-7721 and Huh7 cells.2.Measuring cell proliferation rate by MTS assays and anchorage-independent cell colony formation assays in vitro and futher verifying it by silencing GP73 in xenograft models.3.Measuring proliferation and cell cycle related factors and measuring cell cycle distributions after GP73 silencing.4.Measuring cell migration and invasion rate by Transwell assays and measuring expression of N-cadherin and E-cadherin by immunofluorescene and immunoblot after GP73 silencing.Results1.GP73 silencing decreases proliferation rate of hepatocellular carcinoma cells in vitro and in vivo.2.GP73 silencing decreases the expression of p-Rb in hepatocellular carcinoma cells.3.GP73 silencing affects little to distributions of cell cycle.4.GP73 silencing accelerates cell migration and invasion, and upregulates the expression of N-cadherin and E-cadherin.ConclusionGP73 accelarates cell migration and invasion by regulating p-Rb, N-cadherin and E-cadherin, and further regulates cell proliferation.