Open AccessFollistatin‐like protein 5 inhibits hepatocellular carcinoma progression by inducing caspase‐dependent apoptosis and regulating Bcl‐2 family proteins
Author(s) -
Li Chunlei,
Dai Lei,
Zhang Junfeng,
Zhang Yujing,
Lin Yi,
Cheng Lin,
Tian Hongwei,
Zhang Xin,
Wang Qingnan,
Yang Qianmei,
Wang Yuan,
Shi Gang,
Cheng Fuyi,
Su Xiaolan,
Yang Yang,
Zhang Shuang,
Yu Dechao,
Wei Yuquan,
Deng Hongxin
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of cellular and molecular medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.44
H-Index - 130
eISSN - 1582-4934
pISSN - 1582-1838
DOI - 10.1111/jcmm.13906
Subject(s) - follistatin , cancer research , biology , apoptosis , cell growth , tissue microarray , metastasis , hepatocellular carcinoma , immunohistochemistry , cancer , programmed cell death , chemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , immunology , biochemistry , genetics
Hepatocellular carcinoma ( HCC ) is one of the most common and deadly malignant tumors in the world, especially in China. Follistatin‐like protein 5 ( FSTL 5) is a member of the FSTL family, which is involved in cell proliferation, migration, differentiation, and embryo development. We aimed to investigate the function and underlying mechanism of FSTL 5 in HCC . FSTL 5 expression was determined by immunohistochemistry staining in a liver cancer tissue microarray ( TMA ) and the correlation between FSTL 5 and the prognosis of HCC patients was analysed. Further proliferation assay, colony formation assay, flow cytometry, and xenograft tumor model were performed to investigate the bioeffects of FSTL 5 in HCC in vitro and in vivo. We found that FSTL 5 expression was downregulated in HCC tissues and positively correlated with the prognosis of patients with HCC at tumor node metastasis stage I/II. Overexpression of FSTL 5 efficiently impaired HCC growth both in vivo and in vitro with an exogenous manner. Mechanistic investigation demonstrated that FSTL 5 promoted HCC cell apoptosis in a caspase‐dependent manner and regulated Bcl‐2 family proteins. These results indicate that FSTL 5 may be a potential novel target for HCC treatment, and a biomarker for tumor prognosis.