An inflammatory-CCRK circuitry drives mTORC1-dependent metabolic and immunosuppressive reprogramming in obesity-associated hepatocellular carcinoma

Nat Commun. 2018 Dec 6;9(1):5214. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-07402-8.

Abstract

Obesity increases the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) especially in men, but the molecular mechanism remains obscure. Here, we show that an androgen receptor (AR)-driven oncogene, cell cycle-related kinase (CCRK), collaborates with obesity-induced pro-inflammatory signaling to promote non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)-related hepatocarcinogenesis. Lentivirus-mediated Ccrk ablation in liver of male mice fed with high-fat high-carbohydrate diet abrogates not only obesity-associated lipid accumulation, glucose intolerance and insulin resistance, but also HCC development. Mechanistically, CCRK fuels a feedforward loop by inducing STAT3-AR promoter co-occupancy and transcriptional up-regulation, which in turn activates mTORC1/4E-BP1/S6K/SREBP1 cascades via GSK3β phosphorylation. Moreover, hepatic CCRK induction in transgenic mice stimulates mTORC1-dependent G-csf expression to enhance polymorphonuclear myeloid-derived suppressor cell recruitment and tumorigenicity. Finally, the STAT3-AR-CCRK-mTORC1 pathway components are concordantly over-expressed in human NASH-associated HCCs. These findings unveil the dual roles of an inflammatory-CCRK circuitry in driving metabolic and immunosuppressive reprogramming through mTORC1 activation, thereby establishing a pro-tumorigenic microenvironment for HCC development.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / genetics
  • Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / immunology
  • Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / metabolism*
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cyclin-Dependent Kinases / genetics
  • Cyclin-Dependent Kinases / metabolism*
  • Female
  • Hep G2 Cells
  • Humans
  • Immune Tolerance / genetics
  • Immune Tolerance / immunology
  • Inflammation / genetics
  • Inflammation / metabolism
  • Liver Neoplasms / genetics
  • Liver Neoplasms / immunology
  • Liver Neoplasms / metabolism*
  • Male
  • Mechanistic Target of Rapamycin Complex 1 / genetics
  • Mechanistic Target of Rapamycin Complex 1 / metabolism*
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Mice, Nude
  • Mice, Transgenic
  • Obesity / genetics
  • Obesity / immunology
  • Obesity / metabolism*
  • RNA Interference
  • RNAi Therapeutics
  • Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays / methods

Substances

  • Mechanistic Target of Rapamycin Complex 1
  • Cyclin-Dependent Kinases