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Updated: May 5, 2026

Constitutive and Inducible Systems for Genetic In Vivo Modification of Mouse Hepatocytes Using Hydrodynamic Tail Vein Injection
Published on: February 2, 2018
An HNF4α-miRNA inflammatory feedback circuit regulates hepatocellular oncogenesis
Maria Hatziapostolou1, Christos Polytarchou, Eleni Aggelidou
1Department of Cancer Immunology and AIDS, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Abstract:
Hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α (HNF4α) is essential for liver development and hepatocyte function. Here, we show that transient inhibition of HNF4α initiates hepatocellular transformation through a microRNA-inflammatory feedback loop circuit consisting of miR-124, IL6R, STAT3, miR-24, and miR-629. Moreover, we show that, once this circuit is activated, it maintains suppression of HNF4α and sustains oncogenesis. Systemic administration of miR-124, which modulates inflammatory signaling, prevents and suppresses hepatocellular carcinogenesis by inducing tumor-specific apoptosis without toxic side effects. As we also show that this HNF4α circuit is perturbed in human hepatocellular carcinomas, our data raise the possibility that manipulation of this microRNA feedback-inflammatory loop has therapeutic potential for treating liver cancer.
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