Angiogenin regulates epithelial-mesenchymal transition of hepatocellular carcinoma through upregulation of HMGA2.

Angiogenin (ANG) is known to alter multiple cell behaviors by directly targeting downstream targets, but its role in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains to be elucidated. The expression of ANG in HCC cell lines was measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and western blot. The effects of ANG expression on cell proliferation, cell migration, and hallmarks of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process were also investigated. The relationship between ANG and high mobility group AT-hook 2 (HMGA2) was evaluated. ANG expression was increased in HCC cell lines. Downregulating of ANG inhibits proliferation, migration, and EMT of HCC cells. The direct regulation of ANG on HMGA2 was verified by luciferase activity reporter assay and western blot assay. Furthermore, overexpression of HMGA2 reversed the inhibitory effects of ANG downregulation on HCC cell behaviors. Our results illustrated the mechanism that ANG promote the EMT of HCC through targeting HMGA2.