Page 106 - D. Cancer biology
P. 106
[D. Cancer biology-68]
Hepatitis B virus X protein enhances the metastasis of
hepatocellular carcinoma by interacting with SOCS1
Inho Kang¹, Jung Sun Min¹, Heemin Lee¹, Ju Hyeon Lee¹, Jeong Keun Ahn¹˙*
¹Department of Microbiology & Molecular Biology, College of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Chungnam National
University, Daejeon 305-764, KOREA
High metastasis rate of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the reason of poor prognosis of liver cancer and hepatitis
B virus (HBV) is the most important pathogen for HCC development. In this study, we attempted to reveal the
correlation between HBV and metastasis of HCC. We found that HBV X protein (HBx), one of the viral proteins of
HBV, interacts with suppressor of cytokine signaling 1 (SOCS1). SOCS1 negatively regulates NF-κB by degradation
of p65, one of the subunits of NF-κB. NF-κB regulates various epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) transcription
factors such as Snail, Slug, and Twist. EMT is a cellular process which controls invasiveness and motility of cancer
cells. Here, we report that HBx interacts with SOCS1, subsequently prevents the ubiquitination of p65, and activates
EMT transcription factors, suggesting new metastasis mechanism of HBV-associated HCC.
