Propofol inhibits hepatocellular carcinoma growth and invasion through the HMGA2-mediated Wnt/β-catenin pathway

Propofol is a commonly used intravenous anesthetic in tumor surgery. Recently, studies have confirmed that propofol has an antitumor effect on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); however, the molecular mechanism underlying this effect has not been elucidated until now. The present study aimed to investigate the mechanism of propofol on HepG2 cell proliferation, apoptosis and invasion, focusing on High Mobility Group AT-Hook 2 (HMGA2)-mediated Wnt/beta-catenin pathway. The HepG2 cells were treated with various concentrations of propofol for 24 h, the relative protein levels of HMGA2, Wnt3a, beta-catenin, Snail Family Zinc Finger 1 and c-myc were determined by western blot analysis. HMGA2-pcDNA3.1 plasmid was transfected into the HepG2 cells to overexpress HMGA2. Cell proliferation, apoptosis and invasion were examined by MTT assays, flow cytometry and Transwell-matrigel invasion assays, respectively. The results showed that propofol suppressed HMGA2 expression and Wnt/beta-catenin signaling in a dose-dependent manner. Propofol was able to inhibit cell proliferation and invasion, and induce cell apoptosis of HepG2 cells; however, these effects were attenuated by HMGA2 overexpression. The suppressed Wnt/beta-catenin signaling in HepG2 cells by treatment with propofol was also reversed by HMGA2 overexpression. In conclusion, this study provided a novel mechanism underlying the anti-tumor function of propofol on HCC. To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first to demonstrate that propofol could downregulate the expression of HMGA2, which inhibited the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway, thus leading to the inhibition of cell proliferation and invasion, as well as the apoptosis of HepG2 cells.