Differential activation of the Stat signaling pathway in the liver after burn injury

Inhibition of growth and metastasis of human hepatocellular carcinoma by antisense oligonucleotide targeting signal transducer and activator of transcription 3

PURPOSE

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is an aggressive malignancy and is a devastating clinical complication of chronic liver disease. Therapeutic options are limited mainly because the genetic and biochemical understanding of this disease remains fragmented. We intended to study the role of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) aberrant signaling in HCC malignancy, and the therapeutic potential of inhibition of STAT3 expression for HCC.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

A 2'-O-methoxyethylribose-modified phosphorothioate antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) was used to knock down STAT3 expression in different human HCC cell lines, including the highly metastatic HCCLM3 derived from orthotopic implantation and subsequent lung metastasis in athymic mice. The effects of STAT3 ASO treatment on HCC cells, metastasis, and animal survival following HCCLM3 orthotopic implantation were evaluated.

RESULTS

Specific suppression of phosphorylated STAT3 reduced its DNA-binding activity, inhibited the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor, survivin, matrix metalloproteinases 2 and 9, reduced cell proliferation and migratory potential, induced apoptosis in vitro, and inhibited intradermal angiogenesis and s.c. tumorigenesis upon injection in mice. In mice bearing orthotopically implanted HCCLM3, STAT3 inhibition following therapeutic treatment with STAT3 ASO reduced circulating vascular endothelial growth factor and basic fibroblast growth factor, decreased intratumor CD34-positive microvessel density, intrahepatic and intraperitoneal transmission, and lung metastasis. HCC tumor volume and weight were reduced and the survival time of mice bearing orthotopically xenografted HCC was approximately doubled in STAT3 ASO-treated mice (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Constitutively activated STAT3 is essential for the growth, survival, and metastasis of HCC, suggesting that STAT3-targeted therapy may have utility for HCC.

Sepsis-induced muscle growth hormone resistance occurs independently of STAT5 phosphorylation

Growth hormone (GH) stimulates insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) synthesis in both liver and muscle. During sepsis, proinflammatory cytokines inhibit GH action in liver, but it is unknown whether sepsis also produces GH resistance in muscle. Sepsis was induced by cecal ligation and puncture, and 18 h later the effect of GH on signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) phosphorylation and IGF-I mRNA content was assessed in rat gastrocnemius and liver. The relative abundance of phosphorylated (p)STAT5a, pSTAT5b, pSTAT3, and pSTAT1 was increased in liver from control rats after GH. Sepsis alone also increased hepatic pSTAT5a, pSTAT3, and pSTAT1. Sepsis dramatically impaired the ability of GH to stimulate the phosphorylation of STAT5a and -5b, as well as to increase IGF-I mRNA in liver. In muscle from control rats, GH increased pSTAT5a and -5b, whereas content of pSTAT3 and pSTAT1 was not affected. Sepsis increased basal content of pSTAT3 but not pSTAT5a, pSTAT5b, or pSTAT1 in muscle. The GH-induced increase of pSTAT5a and -5b in muscle from septic rats was not inhibited, suggesting that muscle was not GH resistant. In contrast to these changes in pSTAT5, the ability of GH to increase IGF-I mRNA was completely absent in muscle from septic rats. Because the suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS) proteins may function as negative regulators of GH signaling, we examined the content of these proteins. Sepsis produced small (30-50%), albeit statistically significant, increases in SOCS-1, -2, and -3 protein in muscle. In contrast to muscle, the SOCS proteins in the liver did not change under the various experimental conditions, suggesting that these proteins are not responsible for the impaired phosphorylation of STAT5 by GH. In conclusion, sepsis produces GH resistance in both muscle and liver, with the locus of this impairment in muscle differing from that in liver and being independent of a defect in STAT5 phosphorylation.

Caco-2 cell differentiation is associated with a decrease in stat protein levels and binding

Novel proteins of the Stat (signal transducers and activators of transcription) family have been associated with proliferation and differentiation of certain cells; the role of these transcription factors in gut differentiation has not been examined. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the cellular levels and actual binding of the Stat proteins are altered with intestinal differentiation using the Caco-2 cell line that spontaneously differentiates to a small bowel phenotype after confluency. We found that both Stat3 and Stat5 protein levels were increased in preconfluent and confluent Caco-2 cells; levels then decreased with postconfluency. Mobility shift assays demonstrated maximal binding of Stat3 and Stat5 at confluency and, similar to protein levels, binding activity decreased with postconfluency. The intestinal differentiation marker gene sucrase-isomaltase was increased by postconfluent day 1 with maximal levels by day 6. The progressive decrease of Stat3 and Stat5 protein levels and binding activity, occurring at a time associated with increased Caco-2 cell differentiation, suggests that a decrease in the cellular levels of these proteins may potentially play a role in subsequent intestinal cell differentiation. Delineating the cellular mechanisms responsible for intestinal differentiation is crucial to a better understanding of both normal gut development and aberrant gut growth.