Abnormal expression of HMGB-3 is significantly associated with malignant transformation of hepatocytes

AIM To explore the relationship between dynamic expression of high mobility group box-3 (HMGB3) and malignant transformation of hepatocytes. METHODS Expression of HMGB family proteins were observed in rat hepatocarcinogenesis models induced with 2-acetylaminofluorene. Alterations of HMGB3 were analyzed at the mRNA level by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and at the protein level by immunohistochemistry or Western blotting. HMGB3 in human liver cancer tissues were evaluated using bioinformatics databases from GEO, TCGA, and Oncomine. A specific HMGB3-shRNA was used to knock down HMGB3 expression in order to investigate its effects on proliferation and cell cycle in vitro and in vivo. RESULTS Elevated HMGB3 levels were first reported in hepato-carcinogenesis, with increasing expression from normal liver to cancer. Bioinformatic databases showed that HMGB3 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues was significantly higher than that in normal liver tissues. Higher HMGB3 expression was discovered in liver cancer cells compared with LO2 cells in vitro. According to gene set enrichment analysis, HMGB3 mRNA levels were correlated with cell cycle and DNA replication pathways. Knocking down HMGB3 by specific shRNA significantly inhibited proliferation of HepG2 cells by cell cycle arrest and downregulating DNA replication related genes (cyclin B1, FEN1, and PCNA) at the mRNA and protein level. Furthermore, silencing HMGB3 significantly inhibited xenograft tumor growth (measured by Ki67) in vivo. CONCLUSION HMGB3 is involved in malignant transformation of hepatocytes and could be a useful biomarker for diagnosis and a potential target for therapy of liver cancer.