2. Academic Validation
  3. Thyroid Hormone Receptor-β Agonist GC-1 Inhibits Met-β-Catenin-Driven Hepatocellular Cancer

Thyroid Hormone Receptor-β Agonist GC-1 Inhibits Met-β-Catenin-Driven Hepatocellular Cancer

  • Am J Pathol. 2017 Nov;187(11):2473-2485. doi: 10.1016/j.ajpath.2017.07.005.
Elisabetta Puliga 1,  Qian Min 2,  Junyan Tao 3,  Rong Zhang 3,  Tirthadipa Pradhan-Sundd 3,  Minakshi Poddar 3,  Sucha Singh 3,  Amedeo Columbano 4,  Jinming Yu 5,  Satdarshan P Monga 6
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Pittsburgh Liver Research Center, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy.
  • 2 Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Pittsburgh Liver Research Center, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Department of Oncology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
  • 3 Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Pittsburgh Liver Research Center, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
  • 4 Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy.
  • 5 Department of Oncology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China; Department of Radiation Oncology, Shandong Cancer Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Shandong Academy of Medical Science, Jinan, China. Electronic address: sdyujinming@163.com.
  • 6 Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Pittsburgh Liver Research Center, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Electronic address: smonga@pitt.edu.
PMID: 28807594 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajpath.2017.07.005
Abstract

The thyromimetic agent GC-1 induces hepatocyte proliferation via Wnt/β-catenin signaling and may promote regeneration in both acute and chronic liver insufficiencies. However, β-catenin activation due to mutations in CTNNB1 is seen in a subset of hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC). Thus, it is critical to address any effect of GC-1 on HCC growth and development before its use can be advocated to stimulate regeneration in chronic liver diseases. In this study, we first examined the effect of GC-1 on β-catenin-T cell factor 4 activity in HCC cell lines harboring wild-type or mutated-CTNNB1. Next, we assessed the effect of GC-1 on HCC in FVB mice generated by hydrodynamic tail vein injection of hMet-S45Y-β-catenin, using the sleeping beauty transposon-transposase. Four weeks following injection, mice were fed 5 mg/kg GC-1 or basal diet for 10 or 21 days. GC-1 treatment showed no effect on β-catenin-T cell factor 4 activity in HCC cells, irrespective of CTNNB1 mutations. Treatment with GC-1 for 10 or 21 days led to a significant reduction in tumor burden, associated with decreased tumor cell proliferation and dramatic decreases in phospho-(p-)Met (Y1234/1235), p-extracellular signal-related kinase, and p-STAT3 without affecting β-catenin and its downstream targets. GC-1 exerts a notable antitumoral effect on hMet-S45Y-β-catenin HCC by inactivating Met signaling. GC-1 does not promote β-catenin activation in HCC. Thus, GC-1 may be safe for use in inducing regeneration during chronic hepatic insufficiency.

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