ME2 Promotes Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cell Migration through Pyruvate
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 1, 2025

Hyperpolarized 13C Metabolic Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy and Imaging
Published on: December 30, 2016
Yanting Yang1, Zhenxi Zhang1, Wei Li1
1State Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Biology, Haihe Laboratory of Cell Ecosystem, Department of Cell Biology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, School of Basic Medicine Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100005, China.
Abstract:
Cancer metastasis is still a major challenge in clinical cancer treatment. The migration and invasion of cancer cells into surrounding tissues and blood vessels is the primary step in cancer metastasis. However, the underlying mechanism of regulating cell migration and invasion are not fully understood. Here, we show the role of malic enzyme 2 (ME2) in promoting human liver cancer cell lines SK-Hep1 and Huh7 cells migration and invasion. Depletion of ME2 reduces cell migration and invasion, whereas overexpression of ME2 increases cell migration and invasion. Mechanistically, ME2 promotes the production of pyruvate, which directly binds to β-catenin and increases β-catenin protein levels. Notably, pyruvate treatment restores cell migration and invasion of ME2-depleted cells. Our findings provide a mechanistic understanding of the link between ME2 and cell migration and invasion.
More Related Videos
08:50In Vitro Cultivation Techniques for Modeling Liver Organogenesis, Building Assembloids, and Designing Synthetic Tissues using Human Cell Lines
Published on: April 18, 2025
07:47Non-Invasive PET/MR Imaging in an Orthotopic Mouse Model of Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Published on: August 31, 2022
Related Concept Videos
Adaptive Mechanisms in Cancer Cells
Some of the advantages that cancer cells have on normal cells include - enhanced ability to divide without terminally differentiating, induce new blood vessel formation,...
Cancer Cell Migration through Invadopodia
Role of Myosin in Cell Migration
Myosin II is a hexamer comprising two heavy chains with globular heads and coiled-coil tails, two regulatory light chains, and two essential light chains. The ATPase sites on the myosin heads hydrolyze ATP, and the released phosphate generates the force for contraction....
Cell Migration
Chemotaxis and Direction of Cell Migration
Metastasis
Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition
The epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition or EMT is a developmental process commonly observed in wound healing, embryogenesis, and cancer metastasis. EMT is induced by transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) or receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) ligands, which further...