Journal
JOURNAL OF HEPATOLOGY
Volume 63, Issue 2, Pages 420-428Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhep.2015.03.024
Keywords
Liver; Tumor-associated neutrophil (TAN); Inflammation; Tgf-beta; Tumor initiation
Categories
Funding
- National Medical Research Council, Singapore [R154000473272]
- Wellcome Trust Sir Henry Dale Fellowship [100104/Z/12/Z]
- Wellcome Trust [100104/Z/12/Z] Funding Source: Wellcome Trust
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Background & Aims: Chronic inflammation is a major etiological factor for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but how immune cells respond in the initiation of hepatocarcinogenesis remains uncharacterized. This study aims to investigate the response and roles of neutrophils in early hepatocarcinogenesis. Methods: By inducible expression of oncogenic krasV12 in hepatocytes in transgenic zebrafish combined with live imaging of neutrophils in transparent larvae, the response of neutrophils to oncogenic liver was characterized and their roles investigated by pharmaceutical and genetic manipulations. Results: We found a rapid recruitment of neutrophils to the liver upon induction of krasV12 expression. Pharmaceutical stimulation of neutrophils resulted in further increases of neutrophils in oncogenic livers, liver size and tumor severity, while inhibition of neutrophils caused decreases of liver-associated neutrophils and liver size. Time-lapse video indicated that neutrophils had a stagnant migratory pattern meandering along the tumor edge but became relatively stationary upon entering the krasV12-expressing liver. Both oncogenic hepatocytes and tumor-associated neutrophils (TANs) were isolated via fluorescence-activated cell sorting. Molecular analyses indicated a pro-inflammatory microenvironment, as marked by increased tgf beta 1a expression in krasV12-expressing hepatocytes and a loss of anti-tumor activities in TANs. Depletion of Tgf-beta significantly reduced the number of TANs and the size of oncogenic liver. Conclusions: An inflammatory cue from oncogenic hepatocytes upon induction of krasV12 expression causes a rapid recruitment of neutrophils to oncogenic liver and the neutrophils play a promoting role in early hepatocarcinogenesis. (C) 2015 European Association for the Study of the Liver. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available