Lnc524369 promotes hepatocellular carcinoma progression and predicts poor survival by activating YWHAZ-RAF1 signaling

Figure 1 Expression of Lnc524369/YWHAZ/RAF1 in vitro. A: Expression of Lnc524369 in human cancer cell lines (HepG2 and Huh 7) and normal liver cells (L02); B: Expression of Lnc524369 in the cytoplasm and nucleus of Huh 7 cells; C: Knock-in of Lnc524369 in Huh 7 cells; D: Western blot bands of YWHAZ and RAF1 protein; E: YWHAZ expression was increased by overexpression of Lnc524369; F: RAF1 expression was increased by overexpression of Lnc524369; G: YWHAZ protein was expressed in liver cancer cell lines from the Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia (CCLE) database; H: RAF1 protein was expressed in liver cancer cell lines from the CCLE database.

Figure 2 The expression of Lnc542369 and YWHAZ mRNA in vitro and in hepatocellular carcinoma patients. A: Nuclear Lnc542369 was significantly upregulated in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues compared with para-HCC tissues; B: YWHAZ mRNA was significantly upregulated by overexpression of Lnc542369; C: YWHAZ mRNA was significantly upregulated in HCC tissues compared with para-HCC tissues.

Figure 3 Overexpression of Lnc524369 in vitro and the protein-protein-interaction network of YWHAZ. A: Overexpression of Lnc524369 promoted the proliferation of Huh7 cells; B: Overexpression of Lnc524369 promoted the migration of Huh7 cells; C: Overexpression of Lnc524369 promoted the invasion of Huh7 cells; D: Images of migration and invasion; E: The protein-protein-interaction network of YWHAZ-RAF1 in the STRING database.

Figure 4 The expression of Lnc524369/YWHAZ/RAF1 protein in hepatocellular carcinoma patients and its survival analysis. A: High differentiation of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) pathology; B: Moderate differentiation of human HCC pathology; C: Low differentiation of human HCC pathology; D: Lnc524369 relative level was positively corelated with pathological grade of HCC (RS: 0.604, P < 0.01); E: YWHAZ protein level was higher in HCC tissue than para-HCC tissue (P < 0.01); F: RAF1 protein level was higher in HCC tissue than para-HCC tissue (P < 0.001); G: The western blot band of YWHAZ protein; H: Survival analysis for YWHAZ mRNA of HCC patients at TCGA database; I: The RAF1 protein of the western blot in HCC tissue and para-HCC tissue; J: Survival analysis for RAF1 mRNA of HCC patients at TCGA database. HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma.

Figure 5 Possible mechanism of Lnc524369 effect on hepatocellular carcinoma. Lnc529439 might increase the expression of YWHAZ mRNA and then upregulate the YWHAZ protein level, which triggers RAF1 activation to promote hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression.