Conclusion
These results suggest that autophagy suppresses proliferation of HepG2 cells partially by inhibition of GPC3/wnt/β-catenin signaling.
Discussion
Results demonstrated that induction of autophagy by nutrition starvation and rapamycin treatment led to the downregulation of GPC3 expression in HepG2 cells, accompanied by the decreased expression of wnt downstream target genes (β-catenin, c-myc and cyclin D1). On the other hand, inhibition of autophagy by 3-methyl adenine (3-MA) could rescue rapamycin-directed downregulation of GPC3 and wnt/β-catenin target genes and augment the proliferation of HepG2 cells. Furthermore, interference of GPC3 by siRNA suppressed wnt/β-catenin signaling and attenuated 3-MA stimulation of HepG2 cell proliferation. More interestingly, the mRNA of GPC3 remained unchanged when the protein levels of GPC3 were decreased by autophagy activation, suggesting that induction of autophagy may accelerate the degradation of GPC3. Conclusion: These results suggest that autophagy suppresses proliferation of HepG2 cells partially by inhibition of GPC3/wnt/β-catenin signaling.
Objective
The present study aimed to identify the role of autophagy in the proliferation of HepG2 cells through GPC3/wnt/β-catenin signaling.