ArticleCell death & disease2021
MIRLET7BHG promotes hepatocellular carcinoma progression by activating hepatic stellate cells through exosomal SMO to trigger Hedgehog 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. Cited by 30 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 45 citations in OpenAlex.
- Functional heterogeneity of exosomes in hepatocellular carcinoma (Review).Experimental and therapeutic medicine · 2026Review
- Chromosome 22q13 terminal deletion size is associated with relevant clinical features in a sample of 63 Italian patients with Phelan-McDermid syndrome.Journal of neurodevelopmental disorders · 2026Article
- Developing blood extracellular vesicle protein biomarkers for hepatocellular carcinoma: mechanisms, methods, and translation.Journal of nanobiotechnology · 2026Review
- Immune microenvironment in hepatocellular carcinoma: from pathogenesis to immunotherapy.Cellular & molecular immunology · 2025Review
- Emerging roles of exosomal circRNAs in non-small cell lung cancer.Journal of translational medicine · 2025Review
- Exosome-mediated Crosstalk in the Tumor Immune Microenvironment: Critical Drivers of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Progression.Journal of clinical and translational hepatology · 2025Review
- Article
- Comprehensive analysis of ESCRT transcriptome-associated signatures and identification of the regulatory role of LMO7-AS1 in osteosarcoma.Cancer cell international · 2025Article
- LMNB1/CDKN1A Signaling Regulates the Cell Cycle and Promotes Hepatocellular Carcinoma Progression.Current cancer drug targets · 2025Article
- Cancer Cell-Derived Exosomal miR-500a-3p Modulates Hepatic Stellate Cell Activation and the Immunosuppressive Microenvironment.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025Article
- Deciphering the role of LOC124905135-related non-coding RNA cluster in human cancers: A comprehensive review.Heliyon · 2024Review
- Role of extracellular vesicle-associated proteins in the progression, diagnosis, and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.Cell & bioscience · 2024Review
- Hedgehog pathway and cancer: A new area (Review).Oncology reports · 2024Review
- Survival-Associated Cellular Response Maintained in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDAC) Switched Between Soft and Stiff 3D Microgel Culture.ACS biomaterials science & engineering · 2024Article
- Autophagic degradation of MVBs in LSECs promotes Aldosterone induced-HSCs activation.Hepatology international · 2024Article
- [Hepatocellular Carcinoma-Derived Exosomes: Key Players in Intercellular Communication Within the Tumor Microenvironment].Sichuan da xue xue bao. Yi xue ban = Journal of Sichuan University. Medical science edition · 2024Article
- Unraveling the Emerging Niche Role of Hepatic Stellate Cell-derived Exosomes in Liver Diseases.Journal of clinical and translational hepatology · 2023Review
- Role of exosomes in the development of the immune microenvironment in hepatocellular carcinoma.Frontiers in immunology · 2023Review
- Spotlights on extracellular vesicles in hepatocellular carcinoma diagnosis and treatment: an update review.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2023Review
- Role of exosomes in hepatocellular carcinoma and the regulation of traditional Chinese medicine.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), commonly caused by liver fibrosis, is a global challenge with high morbidity. Activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) contributes to hepatic fibrosis. Exosomes are small vesicles that play a significant role in cell-to-cell communication. Smoothened (SMO) is the key signal transducer for Hedgehog pathway. This study was designed to study the function and underlying mechanism of SMO in HSC activation. Functional assays including 5-Ethynyl-2´-deoxyuridine, colony formation, wound healing, transwell, and sphere formation assays disclosed the function of SMO. Western blot analysis of exosome biomarkers, immunofluorescence staining assay, electron microscope, and flow cytometry revealed the existence of exosomes. Bioinformatics analyses and mechanistic assays uncovered the interplays between RNAs. Nude mice xenograft model was established to evaluate HCC tumor growth. We uncovered that SMO was an oncogene in HCC cells and was low-expressed in quiescent HSCs. Then, SMO was upregulated in HSCs cultured with HCC cells-conditioned medium. Next, it was revealed that HCC cells-derived exosomes activated HSCs by transmitting SMO to HSCs. Subsequently, we recognized that microRNA let-7b host gene (MIRLET7BHG) served as the competing endogenous RNA against miR-330-5p to upregulate SMO. In turn, SMO induced hedgehog pathway to promote GLI family zinc finger 1 (Gli1), leading to transcriptional activation of MIRLET7BHG in activated HSCs. In summary, this study demonstrated that Gli1-induced MIRLET7BHG facilitated HCC by activating HSCs through exosomal SMO to stimulate hedgehog pathway, providing a new road for HCC treatment.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.