Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Feb 28, 2025; 31(8): 101585
Published online Feb 28, 2025. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v31.i8.101585
Ras-related protein Rab24 plays a predictive role in hepatocellular carcinoma and enhanced tumor proliferation
Han Ding, Zhi-Guo Ding, Song Liu, Xu-Nan Mao, Xing-Sheng Lu
Han Ding, Department of Endoscopy Center and Endoscopy Research Institute, Zhongshan Hospital, The Affiliated to Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
Han Ding, Department of General Surgery, Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200092, China
Zhi-Guo Ding, Department of General Surgery, The Third People’s Hospital of Yangzhou, Yangzhou 225126, Jiangsu Province, China
Song Liu, Xing-Sheng Lu, Department of General Surgery, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215000, Jiangsu Province, China
Xu-Nan Mao, Medical College, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, Jiangsu Province, China
Co-first authors: Han Ding and Zhi-Guo Ding.
Co-corresponding authors: Xu-Nan Mao and Xing-Sheng Lu.
Author contributions: Lu XS and Mao XN conceptualized and designed the research; Ding H and Ding ZG screened patients and acquired clinical data; Liu S collected specimen and performed laboratory analysis; Ding ZG performed data analysis; Ding H and Ding ZG wrote the manuscript; All the authors have read and approved the final manuscript. Ding H proposed, designed, acquired clinical data and prepared the first draft of the manuscript. Ding ZG screened patients, acquired clinical data and performed data analysis. Both authors have made crucial and indispensable contributions towards the completion of the project and thus qualified as the co-first authors of the paper. Both Lu XS and Mao XN have played important and indispensable roles in the experimental design, data interpretation and manuscript preparation as the co-corresponding authors. Lu XS applied for and obtained the funds for this research project. He searched the literature, revised and submitted the early version of the manuscript with the focus on the role of Rab24 in predicting hepatocellular carcinoma. Mao XN was instrumental and responsible for some crucial experiments, data re-analysis and re-interpretation, figure plotting, comprehensive literature search, preparation and submission of the current version of the manuscript with a new focus on the function of Rab24 in enhancing hepatocellular carcinoma proliferation. This collaboration between Lu XS and Mao XN is crucial for the publication of this manuscript and other manuscripts still in preparation.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine (No. XHEC-D-2023-201).
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: This animal use was approved by the Animal Core Facility of Xinhua Hospital (No. XHEC-F-2024-085). All animal studies were conducted in accordance with Chinese animal welfare guideline.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
ARRIVE guidelines statement: The authors have read the ARRIVE guidelines, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the ARRIVE guidelines.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Xing-Sheng Lu, MD, Department of General Surgery, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, No. 9 Chongwen Road, Suzhou 215000, Jiangsu Province, China. luxingsheng88@sina.com
Received: September 19, 2024
Revised: December 4, 2024
Accepted: January 6, 2025
Published online: February 28, 2025
Processing time: 125 Days and 13.2 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Ras-related protein Rab24, which belongs to the small GTPase family, plays a crucial role in regulating intracellular protein trafficking. Dysregulation of Rab24 has been recently identified in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, its clinical significance and tumor related effects remain to be further clarified.

AIM

To explore the expression pattern of Rab24 and its role in HCC progression.

METHODS

The expression profile of Rab24 was tested in HCC tissues together with adjacent tissues from transcriptional, mRNA, and protein levels. The prognostic role of Rab24 in HCC was assessed by univariate and multivariate analyses. Clinical outcomes were evaluated by the Kaplan-Meier analysis and log-rank test. The effect of Rab24 on cell proliferation was tested through cellular experiments and xenograft experiments.

RESULTS

Rab24 expression was elevated in HCC tissues compared to adjacent liver tissues. High expression of Rab24 was significantly associated with larger tumor size and advanced tumor stage. Moreover, HCC patients with high Rab24 expression showed poorer overall survival, and Rab24 was identified as an independent prognosis factor according to multivariate analysis. By using overexpression and shRNA knockdown strategies in HCC cell lines, we found that Rab24 can promote HCC proliferation. Finally, we validated that silencing Rab24 significantly attenuated xenograft growth in vivo.

CONCLUSION

Our study demonstrated that high expression of Rab24 was significantly correlated with poorer prognosis of HCC patients, indicating the potential of Rab24 as a novel clinical biomarker and therapeutic target.

Keywords: Hepatocellular carcinoma; Ras-related protein; Rab24; Prognosis; Proliferation

Core Tip: This is a basic study to identify clinical significance and tumor related effects of ras-related protein Rab24 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). High expression of Rab24 was significantly associated with larger tumor, advanced tumor stage and poorer overall survival. By using overexpression and shRNA knockdown strategies in HCC cell lines, we found that Rab24 can promote HCC proliferation. Finally, we validated that silencing Rab24 significantly attenuated xenograft growth in vivo. Our study firstly demonstrated that high expression of Rab24 was significantly correlated with poorer prognosis of HCC patients, indicating the potential of Rab24 as a novel clinical biomarker and therapeutic target.