Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 15, 2026

In Vitro Cultivation Techniques for Modeling Liver Organogenesis, Building Assembloids, and Designing Synthetic Tissues using Human Cell Lines
Published on: April 18, 2025
TGF-β regulates hepatocellular carcinoma progression by inducing Treg cell polarization
Yinan Shen1, Yongpeng Wei, Zhouchong Wang
1The 5th Department of Hepatic Surgery, Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, the Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China.
Background/Aims:
TGF-β plays a key role in the progression of various tumors. The main objective of our study was to investigate whether TGF-β is able to regulate N-nitrosodiethylamine (DEN)-induced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression in a mouse model by inducing Treg cell polarization.
Methods:
HCC progression, TGF-β and Foxp3 expression levels, serum TGF-β, IL10 and GP73 levels as well as percentage of Treg cells were analyzed in healthy, HCC and HCC+SM-16 mouse groups. The effect of TGF-β on Treg cell polarization in vitro was measured by flow cytometric analysis. The expression of TGF-β and IL10 was identified by IHC in HCC patients and the correlation between TGF-β and IL10 was also assessed.
Results:
TGF-β expression is up-regulated in a DEN-induced HCC mouse model. TGF-β can promote the differentiation of Foxp3(+)CD4(+) T cells (Treg cells) in vitro. However, blocking the TGF-β pathway with a specific TGF-β receptor inhibitor, SM-16, reduced HCC progression and the percentage of Treg cells in liver tissue. The correlation between TGF-β and Treg cells was also confirmed in HCC patients and the expression of both TGF-β and IL-10 was shown to be associated with HCC progression.
Conclusion:
TGF-β is necessary for HCC progression, acting by inducing Treg cell polarization.
More Related Videos
06:54Studying TGF-β Signaling and TGF-β-induced Epithelial-to-mesenchymal Transition in Breast Cancer and Normal Cells
Published on: October 27, 2020
08:20In Vitro Differentiation of Human CD4+FOXP3+ Induced Regulatory T Cells (iTregs) from Naïve CD4+ T Cells Using a TGF-β-containing Protocol
Published on: December 30, 2016
Related Concept Videos
TGF - β Signaling Pathway
Liver Regeneration
Cells of Liver
The liver comprises four major types of cells— hepatocytes, stellate, Kupffer, and sinusoidal endothelial cells. The hepatocytes are...
T Cell Types and Functions
Th1 cells stimulate dendritic cells to express necessary co-stimulatory molecules on their surfaces for...