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Updated: Mar 5, 2026

A Three-Dimensional Spheroid Model to Investigate the Tumor-Stromal Interaction in Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Published on: September 30, 2021
SIRT3 functions as a tumor suppressor in hepatocellular carcinoma
Xianchun Zeng1, Nanzhu Wang1, Hui Zhai2
11 Department of Medical Imaging, Guizhou Provincial People's Hospital, Guiyang, China.
Abstract:
Hepatocellular carcinoma is one of the leading causes for cancer-related mortality worldwide. SIRT3 may function as either oncogene or tumor suppressor in a panel of cancers; however, the role of SIRT3 in hepatocellular carcinoma remains unclear. In this study, we assayed the expression level of SIRT3 in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues by quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry. A loss-of-function approach was used to examine the effects of SIRT3 on biological activity, including cell proliferative activity and invasive potential. The results demonstrated that the expression levels of SIRT3 protein in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues were significantly downregulated compared with those in adjacent non-cancerous tissues. Furthermore, SIRT3 could decrease cell proliferation and inhibit cell migration/invasion in hepatocellular carcinoma cell line. Taken together, these results elucidated the function of SIRT3 in hepatocellular carcinoma development and suggested that SIRT3 might function as tumor suppressor in hepatocellular carcinoma by targeting PI3K/Akt pathway.
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