PUBLICATION
Tumor-associated neutrophils and macrophages promote gender disparity in hepatocellular carcinoma in zebrafish
- Authors
- Yan, C., Yang, Q., Gong, Z.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-170217-7
- Date
- 2017
- Source
- Cancer research 77(6): 1395-1407 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Gong, Zhiyuan
- Keywords
- none
- MeSH Terms
-
- Animals
- Animals, Genetically Modified/genetics
- Animals, Genetically Modified/growth & development
- Animals, Genetically Modified/metabolism
- Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/genetics
- Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/metabolism
- Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/pathology*
- Cells, Cultured
- Disease Progression
- Female
- Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic
- Hepatocytes/metabolism
- Hepatocytes/pathology*
- Humans
- Liver/metabolism
- Liver/pathology*
- Liver Neoplasms/genetics
- Liver Neoplasms/metabolism
- Liver Neoplasms/pathology*
- Macrophages/metabolism
- Macrophages/pathology*
- Male
- Neutrophils/metabolism
- Neutrophils/pathology*
- Signal Transduction
- Zebrafish/genetics
- Zebrafish/growth & development
- Zebrafish/metabolism*
- PubMed
- 28202512 Full text @ Cancer Res.
Citation
Yan, C., Yang, Q., Gong, Z. (2017) Tumor-associated neutrophils and macrophages promote gender disparity in hepatocellular carcinoma in zebrafish. Cancer research. 77(6):1395-1407.
Abstract
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) occurs more frequently and aggressively in men than women, but the mechanistic basis of this gender disparity is obscure. Chronic inflammation is a major etiologic factor in HCC, so we investigated the role of cortisol in gender discrepancy in a zebrafish model of HCC. Inducible expression of oncogenic KrasV12 in hepatocytes of transgenic zebrafish resulted in accelerated liver tumor progression in males. These tumors were more heavily infiltrated with tumor-associated neutrophils (TAN) and tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) versus females, and they both showed protumor gene expression and promoted tumor progression. Interestingly, the adrenal hormone cortisol was predominantly produced in males to induce Tgfb1 expression, which functioned as an attractant for TAN and TAM. Inhibition of cortisol signaling in males, or increase of cortisol level in females, decreased or increased the numbers of TAN and TAM, respectively, accompanied by corresponding changes in protumor molecular expression. Higher levels of cortisol, TGFB1, and TAN/TAM infiltration in males were also confirmed in human pre-HCC and HCC samples, features that positively correlated in human patients. These results identify increased cortisol production and TAN/TAM infiltration as primary factors in the gender disparity of HCC development in both fish and human. Cancer Res; 77(6); 1395-407. ©2017 AACR.
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping