1. Academic Validation
  2. TTK activates Akt and promotes proliferation and migration of hepatocellular carcinoma cells

TTK activates Akt and promotes proliferation and migration of hepatocellular carcinoma cells

  • Oncotarget. 2015 Oct 27;6(33):34309-20. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.5295.
Xing Liu 1 2 Weijia Liao 3 Qing Yuan 1 Ying Ou 1 Jian Huang 1 2 4
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 National Engineering Center for Biochip at Shanghai, Shanghai, China.
  • 2 Shanghai-MOST Key Laboratory for Disease and Health Genomics, Chinese National Human Genome Center at Shanghai, Shanghai, China.
  • 3 Hepatology Institute of Guilin Medical University, Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China.
  • 4 Key Laboratory of Systems Biomedicine (Ministry of Education) and Collaborative Innovation Center of Systems Biomedicine, Shanghai Center for Systems Biomedicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most malignant cancers with poor clinical outcome. The protein kinase human monopolar spindle 1 (hMps1/TTK) gene expression is significantly increased in HCCs. However, its contributions to hepatocarcinogenesis remain unclear. In this study, we found that TTK was overexpressed in 77.63% (118/152) HCC specimens. Elevated TTK expression positively correlated with large tumor size and presence of the portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT). Demethylation in its promoter increased TTK expression in HCC. In vitro assays revealed that TTK not only promoted cell proliferation and anchorage-independent growth, but also cell migration. Subsequent investigations revealed that TTK activated Akt/mTOR pathway in a p53 dependent manner. We also found that TTK specific kinase inhibitor AZ3146 could decrease HCC cell growth. In conclusion, TTK contributes to HCC tumorigenesis via promoting cell proliferation and migration. It may serve as a novel biomarker and a potential target in HCC Cancer therapy.

Keywords

Akt; TTK gene; cell migration; demethylation; hepatocarcinogenesis.

Figures
Products
  • Cat. No.
    Product Name
    Description
    Target
    Research Area
  • HY-14710
    99.92%, Mps1激酶抑制剂