Tumor suppressive functions of LZTFL1 in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. The poor survival may be due to tumor recurrence and metastasis. Growing evidence indicates that Leucine Zipper Transcription Factor-like 1 () plays an important role in tumor progression of several cancers such as lung cancer and gastric cancer. Real-time PCR was performed to evaluate expression level in HCC cell lines and patient specimens. The relationship between expression and the clinicopathological data of the patients was analyzed. Stable cell lines with overexpressing were set-up, and the cell proliferation, migration, and invasion abilities were analyzed. The protein expression was measured by Western blotting. Here, we found expression was decreased in human HCC specimens and HCC cell lines. Downregulation of expression was correlated with tumor stage and metastasis. The ectopic overexpression of inhibited cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and the expression of MMP9. In addition, suppressed epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT). Taken together, our results highlight the tumor suppressive role of in HCC, suggesting that may represent a potential therapeutic strategy for treating patients with HCC.