The osteopontin-CD44 axis in hepatic cancer stem cells regulates IFN signaling and HCV replication

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 8; no. 1; pp. 13143 - 12
• Main Authors: Shirasaki, Takayoshi, Honda, Masao, Yamashita, Taro, Nio, Kouki, Shimakami, Tetsuro, Shimizu, Ryougo, Nakasyo, Saki, Murai, Kazuhisa, Shirasaki, Natsumi, Okada, Hikari, Sakai, Yoshio, Sato, Tokiharu, Suzuki, Tetsuro, Yoshioka, Katsuji, Kaneko, Shuichi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 03.09.2018; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 13/31; 13/89; 14/35; 692/4020/4021/1607/1610/4029; 692/4020/4021/234/2513/1551; 96/1; CD44 antigen; Cell adhesion & migration; Cell adhesion molecules; Cell migration; Cell proliferation; Epithelial cells; Gene expression; Hepatitis C; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Humanities and Social Sciences; Interferon; Kinases; Liver cancer; multidisciplinary; Osteopontin; Phosphorylation; Replication; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Signal transduction; Stat1 protein; Stem cells; Therapeutic applications
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-31421-6

Osteopontin (OPN) is involved in cell proliferation, migration, inflammation, and tumor progression in various tissues. OPN induces stemness by interacting with CD44, but the functional relevance of OPN-mediated interferon (IFN) signaling and hepatitis C virus (HCV) replication in stem cell populations remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the effect of OPN on HCV replication and IFN signaling in cancer stem cells (CSCs) positive for epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) and CD44. We show that the EpCAM + /CD44 + CSCs show marked HCV replication when compared to EpCAM − /CD44 − cells. In addition, OPN significantly enhances this HCV replication in EpCAM + /CD44 + CSCs and markedly suppresses IFN-stimulated gene expression. The GSK-3β inhibitor BIO increases the EpCAM + /CD44 + CSC population and OPN expression and impairs IFN signaling via STAT1 degradation. Taken together, our data suggest that OPN enhances HCV replication in the EpCAM + /CD44 + CSCs, while it also negatively regulates the IFN signaling pathway via inhibition of STAT1 phosphorylation and degradation. Therefore, OPN may represent a novel therapeutic target for treating HCV-related hepatocellular carcinoma.