Discovery and Development of TMPRSS6 Inhibitors Modulating Hepcidin Levels in Human Hepatocytes
CELL CHEMICAL BIOLOGY
Authors: Beliveau, Francois; Tarkar, Aarti; Dion, Sebastien P.; Desilets, Antoine; Ghinet, Mariana Gabriela; Boudreault, Pierre-Luc; St-Georges, Catherine; Marsault, Eric; Paone, Daniel; Collins, Jon; Macphee, Colin H.; Campobasso, Nino; Groy, Arthur; Cottom, Josh; Ouellette, Michael; Pope, Andrew J.; Leduc, Richard
Abstract
Iron overload disorders are characterized by the body's inability to regulate iron absorption and its storage which can lead to organ failures. Accumulated evidence has revealed that hepcidin, the master regulator of iron homeostasis, is negatively modulated by TMPRSS6 (matriptase-2), a liver-specific type II transmembrane serine protease (TTSP). Here, we report that treatment with a pep-tidomimetic inhibitor affecting TMPRSS6 activity increases hepcidin production in hepatic cells. Moreover, similar effects were observed when using non-peptidic inhibitors obtained through optimization of hits from high-throughput screening. Using HepG2 cells and human primary hepato-cytes, we show that TMPRSS6 inhibitors block TMPRSS6- dependent hemojuvelin cleavage and increase HAMP expression and levels of secreted hepcidin.
Adenomatous polyposis coli-binding protein end-binding 1 promotes hepatocellular carcinoma growth and metastasis
PLOS ONE
Authors: Aiyama, Takeshi; Orimo, Tatsuya; Yokoo, Hideki; Ohata, Takanori; Hatanaka, Kanako C.; Hatanaka, Yutaka; Fukai, Moto; Kamiyama, Toshiya; Taketomi, Akinobu
Abstract
This study was performed to determine the clinical significance of adenomatous polyposis coli (APC)-binding protein end-binding 1 (EB1) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and to characterize its biochemical role in comparison with previous reports. We performed immunohistochemical staining to detect EB1 expression in tissues from 235 patients with HCC and investigated its correlations with clinicopathological features and prognosis. We also investigated the roles of EB1 in cell proliferation, migration, and tumorigenesisin vitroandin vivoby siRNA- and CRISPR/Cas9-mediated modulation of EB1 expression in human HCC cell lines. The results showed that EB1 expression was significantly correlated with several important factors associated with tumor malignancy, including histological differentiation, portal vein invasion status, and intrahepatic metastasis. Patients with high EB1 expression in HCC tissue had poorer overall survival and higher recurrence rates than patients with low EB1 expression. EB1 knockdown and knockout in HCC cells reduced cell proliferation, migration, and invasionin vitroand inhibited tumor growthin vivo. Further, genes encoding Dlk1, HAMP, and SLCO1B3 that were differentially expressed in association with EB1 were identified using RNA microarray analysis. In conclusion, elevated expression of EB1 promotes tumor growth and metastasis of HCC. EB1 may serve as a new biomarker for HCC, and genes coexpressed with EB1 may represent potential targets for therapy.