NVM-1 predicts prognosis and contributes to growth and metastasis in hepatocellular carcinoma

Novel metastasis-promoting gene 1 (NVM-1) has a significantly elevated protein level in a variety of tumor tissues and is involved in metastasis. However, its functions in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are not clear. The current study aimed to investigate the functions of NVM-1 in cell proliferation, apoptosis, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition in HCC. NVM-1 protein expression in HCC was assessed by immunohistochemical staining. In vitro, cell proliferation, apoptosis, and aggressiveness were determined by CCK-8, fluorescence-assisted cell sorting, TdT-UTP nick-end labeling, and transwell assays, respectively. For in vivo studies, NVM-1 knockdown HCC cells were transplanted into BALB/c nude mice. NVM-1 was frequently upregulated in HCC tissues and positive NVM-1 expression was linked with poor prognosis. NVM-1 depletion significantly inhibited cell proliferation, migration, and invasion abilities in vitro and in vivo. Apoptosis was induced after NVM-1 knockdown. In conclusion, positive NVM-1 expression confers poor prognosis to HCC patients and the NVM-1 protein level correlates with HCC cell proliferation, apoptosis, and EMT.