Abstract B299: The role of Necl-5 in hepatocarcinogenesis.

Abstract Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary hepatic malignancy of adults and the third leading cause of cancer mortality in the world. Hepatocarcinogenesis is a multistep process, usually caused by disturbing cell-cell adhesion and associated with a change of surface molecules. Recently, it is noticed that Necl-5 (Nectin-like 5) could regulate cell adhesion and migration, moreover, overexpressed in many cancers, such as colon cancer and lung cancer. However, the expression of Necl-5 in HCC is still unknown. Hence, we examined the chemically induced hepatocarcinogenesis using Necl-5 knock out mice and the expression of Necl-5 in human HCC. It was significantly showed that HCC was easily generated in Necl-5 knock out mice compared with wild type mice. In human cancerous tissues, the expression of Necl-5 was significantly higher in well differentiated HCC than moderately and poorly differentiated HCC. The expression of CD226, the ligand of Necl-5, was significantly lower in cancerous tissues compared with non-cancerous tissue. It was suggested that there was a negative regulation between Necl-5 and CD226. It was known that NK cells were activated by CD226 and played a role in early stage of tumorigenesis and participated in immune surveillance. Lacked of the Necl-5 gene indirectly impair immune surveillance to induce mice was easier generated cancer. Those findings suggested that Necl-5 might be a potential target of anti-cancer drugs in the future. Citation Information: Mol Cancer Ther 2013;12(11 Suppl):B299. Citation Format: Xue Chen, Yoshihiko Yano, Yoshitake Hayashi. The role of Necl-5 in hepatocarcinogenesis. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2013 Oct 19-23; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2013;12(11 Suppl):Abstract nr B299.