摘要
This study examines inhibiting galectin 1(Gal1)as a treatment option for hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC).Gal1 has immunosuppressive and cancer-promoting roles.Our data showed that Gal1 was highly expressed in human and mouse HCC.The levels of Gal1 positively correlated with the stages of human HCC and negatively with survival.The roles of Gal1 in HCC were studied using overexpression(OE)or silencing using Igals1 siRNA delivered by AAV9.Prior to HCC initiation induced by RAS and AKT mutations,lgals1-OE and silencing had opposite impacts on tumor load.The treatment effect of lgals1 siRNAwas further demonstrated by intersecting HCC at different time points when the tumor load had already reached 9%or even 42%of the body weight.Comparing spatial transcriptomic profiles of Gal1 silenced and OE HCC,inhibiting matrix formation and recognition of foreign antigen in CD45t cell-enriched areas located at tumor-margin likely contributed to the anti-HCC effects of Gal1 silencing.Within the tumors,silencing Gal1 inhibited translational initiation,elongation,and termination.Furthermore,Gal1 silencing increased immune cells as well as expanded cytotoxic T cells within the tumor,and the anti-HCC effect of lgals1 siRNAwas CD8-dependent.Overall,Gal1 silencing has a promising potential for HCC treatment.
基金
The authors thank the Genomics Shared Resource(GSR)core facility at the University of California,Davis Health,Dr.Clifford G Tepper,Stephanie Liu,Ryan Davis,for helping in performing spatial RNA sequencing,and William Amato for his assistance in the quantification of immunohistochemistry slides.This manuscript is supported by grants funded by the USA National Institutes of Health(NIH)T32 CA108459e15,R01CA222490,R50CA243787.BioRender was used to draw mice figures in schematic experimental design.
