Protein convertase subtilisin/Kexin type 9 inhibits hepatocellular carcinoma growth by interacting with GSTP1 and suppressing the JNK signaling pathway.

OBJECTIVE

Protein convertase subtilisin/Kexin type 9 (PCSK9) has been found to be closely associated with the occurrence and development of numerous tumors. However, the precise role of PCSK9 and its relationship to the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain largely unknown. This study aimed to clarify these issues.

METHODS

The expression levels of PCSK9 in HCC tissues and HCC cell lines were determined by the quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, Western blot, and immunohistochemical analyses, and the effects of PCSK9 expression on HCC cell biological traits were investigated by overexpressing and downregulating PCSK9 expression and . Additionally, the mechanism by which PCSK9 mediated dissociation of glutathione S-transferase Pi 1 (GSTP1) dimers and phosphorylation of the Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) pathway components were investigated.

RESULTS

PCSK9 expression levels were significantly lower in HCC tissues than in adjacent non-tumor samples. and experiments suggested that PCSK9 inhibited HCC cell proliferation and metastasis. Further analysis showed that PCSK9 interacted with GSTP1 and promoted GSTP1 dimer dissociation and JNK signaling pathway inactivation in HCC cells. Moreover, the relationships between PCSK9 protein expressions and clinical outcomes were investigated. The PCSK9-lo group displayed a significantly shorter overall survival (OS; median OS: 64.2 months 83.2 months; log-rank statistic: 4.237; = 0.04) and recurrence-free survival (RFS; median RFS: 26.5 months 46.6 months; log-rank statistic: 10.498; = 0.001) time than the PCSK9-hi group.

CONCLUSIONS

PCSK9 inhibited HCC cell proliferation, cell cycle progression, and apoptosis by interacting with GSTP1 and suppressing JNK signaling, suggesting that PCSK9 might act as a tumor suppressor and be a therapeutic target in HCC patients.