TATA-box-binding protein promotes hepatocellular carcinoma metastasis through epithelial-mesenchymal transition

HCC characterizes malignant metastasis with high incidence and recurrence. Thus, it is pivotal to discover the mechanisms of HCC metastasis. TATA-box-binding protein (TBP), a general transcriptional factor (TF), couples with activators and chromatin remodelers to sustain the transcriptional activity of target genes. Here, we investigate the key role of TBP in HCC metastasis.

TBP expression was measured by PCR, western blot, and immunohistochemistry. RNA-sequencing was performed to identify downstream proteins. Functional assays of TBP and downstream targets were identified in HCC cell lines and xenograft models. Luciferase reporter and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays were used to demonstrate the mechanism mediated by TBP.

HCC patients showed high expression of TBP, which correlated with poor prognosis. Upregulation of TBP increased HCC metastasis in vivo and in vitro, and muscleblind-like-3 (MBNL3) was the effective factor of TBP, positively related to TBP expression. Mechanically, TBP transactivated and enhanced MBNL3 expression to stimulate exon inclusion of lncRNA-paxillin (PXN)-alternative splicing (AS1) and, thus, activated epithelial-mesenchymal transition for HCC progression through upregulation of PXN.

Our data revealed that TBP upregulation is an HCC enhancer mechanism that increases PXN expression to drive epithelial-mesenchymal transition.