The poor prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is primarily attributed to its high frequency of recurrence and resistance to chemotherapy. Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and the acquisition of cancer stem cells (CSCs) are the fundamental drivers of chemoresistance in HCC. Glycochenodeoxycholic acid (GCDC), a component of bile acid (BA), has been reported to induce necrosis in primary human hepatocytes. In the present work, we investigated the function of GCDC in HCC chemoresistance. We found that GCDC promoted chemoresistance in HCC cells by down-regulating and up-regulating the expression of apoptotic and anti-apoptotic genes, respectively. Furthermore, GCDC induced the EMT phenotype and stemness in HCC cells and activated the STAT3 signaling pathway. These findings reveal that GCDC promotes chemoresistance in HCC by inducing stemness via the STAT3 pathway and could be a potential target in HCC chemotherapy.
Keywords: STAT3 signaling pathway; cancer stem cells; glycochenodeoxycholic acid; hepatocellular carcinoma.