ZSCAN16 expedites hepatocellular carcinoma progression via activating TBC1D31

Abstract

Objective: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is fatal and poses great challenges to early diagnosis and effective treatment. This paper sought to expound the function of Zinc finger and SCAN domain-containing protein 16 (ZSCAN16) and TBC1 domain family member 31 (TBC1D31) in HCC progression.

Methods: ZSCAN16 and TBC1D31 levels were detected by RT-qPCR, Western blot, and immunohistochemistry. The transcriptional regulation of TBC1D31 by ZSCAN16 was demonstrated by ChIP-qPCR and dual-luciferase assay. Colony formation assay, migration and invasion assays, TUNEL staining, CCK-8 assay, flow cytometry, and western blot analysis were adopted to evaluate the biological activity of HCC cells. The role of the ZSCAN16/TBC1D31 axis in HCC was demonstrated by lentiviral gene intervention combined with functional rescue experiments. Hep3B cells were used to establish a nude mouse xenograft tumor model to study the role of the ZSCAN16/TBC1D31 axis in vivo.

Results: ZSCAN16 and TBC1D31 were highly expressed in HCC. Downregulation of ZSCAN16 repressed the proliferation, migration, and invasion of HCC cells while promoting apoptosis, as well as curbing tumor growth in vivo. Mechanistic studies showed that ZSCAN16 mediated the transcriptional activation of TBC1D31, which in turn led to tumor development. TBC1D31 overexpression reversed the inhibitory effect of ZSCAN16 knockdown on the malignant behavior and tumor growth of HCC cells and accelerated tumor development.

Conclusion: ZSCAN16 mediates transcriptional activation of TBC1D31 and promotes HCC progression.