Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34693020›Full record

ArticleOpen medicine (Warsaw, Poland)2021

GJA1 promotes hepatocellular carcinoma progression by mediating TGF-β-induced activation and the epithelial-mesenchymal transition of hepatic stellate cells.

Gengming Niu, Xiaotian Zhang, Runqi Hong, Ximin Yang, Jiawei Gu, Tao Song, Zhiqing Hu, Liang Chen, Xin Wang, Jie Xia and 3 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Open medicine (Warsaw, Poland), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
1.5field-weighted citation impact, top 17% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Gengming NiuDepartment of General Surgery, Shanghai Fifth People's Hospital, Fudan University, Minhang District, Shanghai, 200240, People's Republic of China.
Xiaotian ZhangDepartment of General Surgery, Shanghai Fifth People's Hospital, Fudan University, Minhang District, Shanghai, 200240, People's Republic of China.
Runqi HongDepartment of General Surgery, Shanghai Fifth People's Hospital, Fudan University, Minhang District, Shanghai, 200240, People's Republic of China.
Ximin YangDepartment of Radiology, Dongying New District Hospital, Dongying, Shandong Province, 257000, People's Republic of China.
Jiawei GuDepartment of General Surgery, Shanghai Fifth People's Hospital, Fudan University, Minhang District, Shanghai, 200240, People's Republic of China.
Tao SongDepartment of General Surgery, Shanghai Fifth People's Hospital, Fudan University, Minhang District, Shanghai, 200240, People's Republic of China.
Zhiqing HuDepartment of General Surgery, Shanghai Fifth People's Hospital, Fudan University, Minhang District, Shanghai, 200240, People's Republic of China.
Liang ChenDepartment of General Surgery, Shanghai Fifth People's Hospital, Fudan University, Minhang District, Shanghai, 200240, People's Republic of China.
Xin WangDepartment of General Surgery, Shanghai Fifth People's Hospital, Fudan University, Minhang District, Shanghai, 200240, People's Republic of China.
Jie XiaDepartment of General Surgery, Shanghai Fifth People's Hospital, Fudan University, Minhang District, Shanghai, 200240, People's Republic of China.
Zhongwei KeDepartment of General Surgery, Shanghai Fifth People's Hospital, Fudan University, 801 Heqing Road, Minhang District, Shanghai, 200240, People's Republic of China.
Jun RenDepartment of General Surgery, Shanghai Fifth People's Hospital, Fudan University, 801 Heqing Road, Minhang District, Shanghai, 200240, People's Republic of China.
Liang HongDepartment of General Surgery, Shanghai Fifth People's Hospital, Fudan University, 801 Heqing Road, Minhang District, Shanghai, 200240, People's Republic of China.
Fudan University · CNWenzhou Medical University · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionGap junction protein, alpha 1 (GJA1), which is correlated with recurrences and unfavorable prognoses in hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs), is one of the specific proteins expressed by activated hepatic stellate cells (HSCs).

methodsExpression of GJA1 was compared between HCCs and nontumor tissues (NTs), between hepatic cirrhosis and NTs, and between primary and metastatic HCCs using transcriptomic datasets from the Gene Expression Omnibus and the Integrative Molecular Database of Hepatocellular Carcinoma. The

resultsThe expression of GJA1 was significantly increased in HCCs and hepatic cirrhosis compared to that in NTs. GJA1 was also overexpressed in pulmonary metastases from HCCs when compared with HCCs without metastasis. Overexpression of GJA1 promoted while knockdown of GJA1 inhibited proliferation and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β-mediated activation and migration of cultured HSCs. Overexpression of GJA1 by lentivirus infection promoted proliferation and migration, while conditioned medium from HSCs overexpressing GJA1 promoted migration but inhibited proliferation of Hep3B and PLC-PRF-5 cells. Lentivirus infection with shGJA1 or conditioned medium from shGJA1-infected HSCs inhibited the proliferation and migration of HCCLM3 cells that had a high propensity toward lung metastasis. Mechanistically, GJA1 induced the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in HSCs and HCCLM3 cells.

conclusionGJA1 promoted HCC progression by inducing HSC activation and the EMT in HSCs. GJA1 is potentially regulated by TGF-β and thus may be a therapeutic target to inhibit HCC progression.

Indexed as

epithelial–mesenchymal transitionhepatic stellate cellhepatocellular carcinomametastasisTGF-β

Identifiers

PMID34693020
PMCPMC8486017
OpenAlexW3202083260

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

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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.