ArticleCell death & disease2021
ECT2 overexpression promotes the polarization of tumor-associated macrophages in hepatocellular carcinoma via the ECT2/PLK1/PTEN pathway.
Article in Cell death & disease, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 47 papers.
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Who cites it
47 citing papers in PubMed, 72 citations in OpenAlex.
- Metabolic immune checkpoints (MICs) in cancer: from molecular mechanisms to challenges and opportunities in clinical translation.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2026Review
- Early induction of the Rho-GEF ECT2 drives MEK/ERK oncogenic signaling in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.Oncogene · 2026Article
- A TRPM4-associated necrotic cell death signature for prognostic stratification in pancreatic cancer.Journal of gastrointestinal oncology · 2026Article
- Icaritin eliminates tumor-associated macrophages via STX16-dependent extracellular vesicle delivery of autophagosomes from hepatocellular carcinoma cells.Journal of experimental & clinical cancer research : CR · 2026Article
- Tumor-associated macrophages in hepatocellular carcinoma: Cellular plasticity and therapy resistance in crosstalk.Journal of pharmaceutical analysis · 2026Review
- TRIM47-facilitated PLK1 stabilization promotes the proliferation of liver cancer cells.Cellular oncology (Dordrecht, Netherlands) · 2025Article
- SLC16A3 in lung adenocarcinoma regulates glycolysis and lactate release to facilitate M2 polarization of tumor-associated macrophages : Short Title: SLC16A3 reinforces macrophage M2 polarization through glycolysis.Cancer immunology, immunotherapy : CII · 2025Article
- CHI3L1 promotes cell division through activation of RhoA in lung cancer cells.Cell communication and signaling : CCS · 2025Article
- Single-cell analysis reveals the regulatory role of ECT2 in HPV-driven cervical carcinogenesis process.Infectious agents and cancer · 2025Article
- Prediction of the effect of Bupleurum chinensis DC. (Chaihu) on survival and its potential targets in hepatocellular carcinoma based on a prognostic model.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2025Article
- The role of lnc‑MAPKAPK5‑AS1 in immune cell infiltration in hepatocellular carcinoma: Bioinformatics analysis and validation.Oncology letters · 2025Article
- Molecular mechanisms in liver repair and regeneration: from physiology to therapeutics.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2025Review
- Smart Physicochemical-triggered Chitosan-based Nanogels for siRNA Delivery and Gene Therapy: A Focus on Emerging Strategies and Paradigms for Cancer Therapy.Current medicinal chemistry · 2025Review
- Pan-Cancer Analysis of the Prognostic and Immunological Role of ECT2: A Promising Target for Survival and Immunotherapy.Cancer informatics · 2025Article
- PLK1 in cancer therapy: a comprehensive review of immunomodulatory mechanisms and therapeutic opportunities.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
- Pan-cancer analysis of DLAT reveals it as a prognostic Biomarker involved in immune infiltration of liver hepatocellular carcinoma.Journal of Cancer · 2025Article
- Targeting the tumor microenvironment with biomaterials for enhanced immunotherapeutic efficacy.Journal of nanobiotechnology · 2024Review
- Transcription factor ETS1‑mediated ECT2 expression promotes the malignant behavior of prostate cancer cells.Oncology letters · 2024Article
- Role of Epigenetic Factors in Determining the Biological Behavior and Prognosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Integrating bioinformatics and machine learning methods to analyze diagnostic biomarkers for HBV-induced hepatocellular carcinoma.Diagnostic pathology · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
12 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common high-mortality cancer, mainly due to diagnostic difficulties during its early clinical stages. In this study, we aimed to identify genes that are important for HCC diagnosis and treatment, and we investigated the underlying mechanism of prognostic differences. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified by using the limma package, and receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was performed to identify diagnostic markers for HCC. Bioinformatics and clinical specimens were used to assess epithelial cell transforming 2 (ECT2) in terms of expression, prognostic value, pathways, and immune correlations. In vitro experiments were used to investigate the underlying mechanism and function of ECT2, and the results were confirmed through in vivo experiments. The integrated analysis revealed 53 upregulated DEGs, and one candidate biomarker for diagnosis (ECT2) was detected. High expression of ECT2 was found to be an independent prognostic risk factor for HCC. ECT2 expression showed a strong correlation with tumor-associated macrophages. We found that ECT2 overexpression increased the migration and proliferation of HCC cells. It also promoted the expression of PLK1, which subsequently interacted with PTEN and interfered with its nuclear translocation, ultimately enhancing aerobic glycolysis and promoting M2 macrophage polarization. M2 macrophages suppress the functions of NK cells and T cells, and this was confirmed in the in vivo experiments. Overall, ECT2 may promote the polarization of M2 macrophages by enhancing aerobic glycolysis and suppressing the functions of immune cells. ECT2 could serve as a candidate diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for HCC.
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