Open Access

ARTICLE

IGF2BP3-induced activation of EIF5B contributes to progression of hepatocellular carcinoma cells

XIAOYIN LI^1,#, QIAN WANG^2,#, HONGFENG LIANG^3,#, SHISHENG CHEN^4,#, HAIWEN CHEN^1,#, YAOYONG LU^1,*, CHANGFU YANG^1,*

1 Department of Oncology (Section 3), Gaozhou People’s Hospital, Gaozhou, China
2 South China Research Center for Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Medical College of Acu-Moxi and Rehabilitation, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
3 The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine (Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine), Guangzhou, China
4 Nanfang Hospital Taihe Branch, Guangzhou, China

* Corresponding Authors: YAOYONG LU. Email: ; CHANGFU YANG. Email:
# Contributed equally to the manuscript

Oncology Research 2022, 30(2), 77-87. https://doi.org/10.32604/or.2022.026511

Received 09 September 2022; Accepted 13 December 2022; Issue published 05 January 2023

Abstract

In this study, we investigated the functional role of eukaryotic initiation factor 5B (EIF5B) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and the underlying mechanisms. Bioinformatics analysis demonstrated that the EIF5B transcript and protein levels as well as the EIF5Bcopy number were significantly higher in the HCC tissues compared with the non-cancerous liver tissues. Down-regulation of EIF5B significantly decreased proliferation and invasiveness of the HCC cells. Furthermore, EIF5B knockdown suppressed epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and the cancer stem cell (CSC) phenotype. Down-regulation of EIF5B also increased the sensitivity of HCC cells to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). In the HCC cells, activation of the NF-kappa B signaling pathway and IkB phosphorylation was significantly reduced by EIF5B silencing. IGF2BP3 increased the stability of the EIF5B mRNA in an m6A-dependent manner. Our data suggested that EIF5B is a promising prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target in HCC.

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Keywords

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Supplementary Material

Supplementary Material File

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