HJURP Promotes Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition via Upregulating SPHK1 in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Holliday Junction Recognition Protein (HJURP) is involved in various cancers including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Current studies have showed that HJURP is correlated with HCC proliferation. However, the role of HJURP in HCC Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition remains unclear. In this study, we found that HJURP knockdown significantly reduced the migration and invasion abilities of HCC cells both in vivo and in vitro by interacting with Sphingosine kinase 1 (SPHK1). Conversely, HJURP overexpression enhanced these biological abilities. Moreover, high HJURP expression is related to poor prognosis of HCC patients. In conclusion, HJURP plays an important role in tumor metastasis by upregulating SPHK1. And high HJURP expression may predict a lower disease-free survival rate and higher possibility of microvascular invasion in HCC patients.