Downregulation of Roundabout guidance receptor 2 suppresses hepatocellular carcinoma progression by interacting with Y-box binding protein 1.

Roundabout guidance receptor 2 (Robo2) is closely related to malignant tumors such as pancreatic cancer and liver fibrosis, but there is no relevant research on the role of Robo2 in HCC. The study will further explore the function and mechanism of Robo2 and its downstream target genes in HCC. Firstly, Robo2 protein levels in human HCC tissues and paired adjacent normal liver tissues were detected. Then we established HepG2 and Huh7 hepatoma cell lines with knock-down Robo2 by transfection with lentiviral vectors, and examined the occurrence of EMT, proliferation and apoptosis abilities in HCC cells by western blot, flow cytometry, wound healing assay and TUNEL staining. Then we verified the interaction between Robo2 and its target gene by Co-IP and immunofluorescence co-staining, and further explored the mechanism of Robo2 and YB-1 by rescue study. The protein expression level of Robo2 in HCC was considerably higher than that in the normal liver tissues. After successfully constructing hepatoma cells with knock-down Robo2, it was confirmed that down-regulated Robo2 suppressed EMT and proliferation of hepatoma cells, and accelerated the cell apoptosis. High-throughput sequencing and validation experiments verified that YB-1 was the downstream target gene of Robo2, and over-expression of YB-1 could reverse the apoptosis induced by Robo2 down-regulation and its inhibitory effect on EMT and proliferation. Robo2 deficiency inhibits EMT and proliferation of hepatoma cells and augments the cell apoptosis by regulating YB-1, thus inhibits the occurrence of HCC and provides a new strategy for the treatment of HCC.