T-box Transcription Factor Tbx3 Contributes to Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cell Migration and Invasion by Repressing E-Cadherin Expression
Open accessAbstract
Tbx3, a member of the T-box family of transcription factors, contributes directly to tumor formation, migration, and invasion. However, the role of Tbx3 in the metastasis of HCC remains unclear. In the present study, Tbx3 expression was detected in HCC tissues and cells by Western blot, and Tbx3 expression was regulated by use of siRNAs or lentivirus-mediated vectors. Here we found that Tbx3 protein expression increased in HCC tissues and cell lines. Tbx3 expression was positively associated with multiple tumor nodes, venous infiltration, and advanced TNM tumor stage. Survival analysis demonstrated that Tbx3 expression was an independent prognostic factor for HCC patients. In vitro assays further validated that Tbx3 indeed prompted HCC cell migration and invasion. In addition, Tbx3 expression was negatively related with E-cadherin expression in HCC tissues. Mechanically, Tbx3 inhibited the expression of E-cadherin, and then facilitated epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (EMT) of HCC cells. Furthermore, the effect of Tbx3 knockdown on HCC cells was attenuated by E-cadherin knockdown. In conclusion, Tbx3 may be a novel prognostic factor, and it contributes to HCC cell migration, invasion, and EMT by repressing E-cadherin expression. Thus, Tbx3 may be recommended as a therapeutic target for HCC patients.
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Human HepG2 cells express Tbx3 and can be used as a model to test the effect of mutating TBX3 sites in hepatocyte enhancer sequences.
“Human HepG2 cells express Tbx3 and can therefore be used as a model to test the effect of mutating TBX3 sites in hepatocyte enhancer sequences45.”
From Single-cell spatial multi-omics and deep learning dissect enhancer-driven gene regulatory networks in liver zonation (2024) · cites this paper as [45]
The Results section, “Expression of Tbx3 in HCC Tissues and Cell Lines” (page not supplied), reports Tbx3 protein expression in HepG2 cells. The paper does not establish HepG2 as a model for testing mutations of TBX3 sites in hepatocyte enhancer sequences; its experiments address HCC cell migration and invasion. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredHuman HepG2 cells express Tbx3 and may therefore serve as a model to test the effect of mutating Tbx3 sites in hepatocyte enhancer sequences.
“Human HepG2 cells express Tbx3 and may therefore serve as a model to test the effect of mutating Tbx3 sites in hepatocyte enhancer sequences63.”
From Enhancer grammar of liver cell types and hepatocyte zonation states (2022) · cites this paper as [63]
The Results section, “Expression of Tbx3 in HCC Tissues and Cell Lines” (page unavailable), reports Tbx3 protein expression in HepG2 cells. The paper does not address mutating Tbx3 sites in hepatocyte enhancer sequences or evaluate HepG2 for that purpose; the proposed use is an inference beyond what this source establishes. (LLM, conf=0.84)
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- Authors
- Feng, X., Yao, W., Zhang, Z., Yuan, F., Liang, L., Zhou, J., Liu, S., & Song, J.
- Affiliations
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Shandong Provincial Third Hospital, Tianqiao District, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China
- Shandong Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CN)
- Shandong University (CN)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Oncology Research Featuring Preclinical and Clinical Cancer Therapeutics
- Publisher
- Tech Science Press
- Published
- 2018-07-05
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 959-966
- ISSN
- 0965-0407 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7844722
- OpenAlex
- W2781921089
- Cited by
- 13
- References
- 29
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 1 · 2019: 3
- FWCI
- 0.63
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Status
- Retracted
- Update notices
- retraction (2026-09-14)
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by-nc-nd
- Locations
- Oncology Research Featuring Preclinical and Clinical Cancer Therapeutics (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Hepatology › Hepatocellular Carcinoma Treatment and Prognosis
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Mechanisms of cancer metastasis
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer Cells and Metastasis
- Keywords
- TBX3, hepatocellular carcinoma, E-cadherin, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, tumor cell migration, tumor invasion, metastasis, prognostic factors, transcriptional repression, therapeutic target
- MeSH terms
- Cell Movement, Carcinoma, Hepatocellular, Humans, Liver Neoplasms, Neoplasm Invasiveness, Prognosis, Tumor Cells, Cultured, Biomarkers, Tumor, Antigens, CD, Cadherins, Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic, Survival Rate, Apoptosis, T-Box Domain Proteins, Cell Proliferation
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