ADAM10 is overexpressed in human hepatocellular carcinoma and contributes to the proliferation, invasion and migration of HepG2 cells

The overexpression of A disintegrin and metalloproteinase 10 (ADAM10) has been found to be closely associated with the development and progression of various types of tumors. However, ADAM10 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and its significance remain largely unknown. The present study aimed to investigate the expression of ADAM10 in human HCC and the effect of ADAM10 gene silencing by siRNA on the proliferation, invasion and migration of HepG2 human hepatoma cells. Immunohistochemistry was performed to examine the expression of ADAM10 in human HCC tissues and in the adjacent non-cancer tissues from 30 patients with HCC. RNA interference was used to knock down ADAM10 expression in HepG2 human hepatoma cells and the proliferation and migration as well as the invasive ability of the treated cells were observed in vitro. The expression of ADAM10 protein in HCC tissues was significantly higher when compared to that in adjacent non-tumor tissues (P<0.05). The high expression of ADAM10 in cancer was significantly correlated with clinical outcomes (P<0.05). Silencing of ADAM10 resulted in inhibition of proliferation and migration as well as invasion of HepG2 human hepatoma cells (P<0.05). These studies suggest that ADAM10 plays an important role in regulating proliferation, invasion and migration of HepG2 cells. High expression of ADAM10 may be a valuable predictive factor for HCC prognosis, and ADAM10 is potentially an important therapeutic target for the prevention of tumor development and progression in HCC.