Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 May 15;136(10):2469-75.
doi: 10.1002/ijc.29287. Epub 2014 Nov 6.

Ileal FGF15 contributes to fibrosis-associated hepatocellular carcinoma development

Iker Uriarte  1 , M Ujue Latasa, Simone Carotti, Maite G Fernandez-Barrena, Oihane Garcia-Irigoyen, Maria Elizalde, Raquel Urtasun, Umberto Vespasiani-Gentilucci, Sergio Morini, Alvaro de Mingo, Montserrat Mari, Fernando J Corrales, Jesus Prieto, Carmen Berasain, Matias A Avila
Affiliations

Ileal FGF15 contributes to fibrosis-associated hepatocellular carcinoma development

Iker Uriarte et al. Int J Cancer. .

Abstract

Fibroblast growth factor 15 (FGF15), FGF19 in humans, is a gut-derived hormone and a key regulator of bile acids and carbohydrate metabolism. FGF15 also participates in liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy inducing hepatocellular proliferation. FGF19 is overexpressed in a significant proportion of human hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC), and activation of its receptor FGFR4 promotes HCC cell growth. Here we addressed for the first time the role of endogenous Fgf15 in hepatocarcinogenesis. Fgf15(+/+) and Fgf15(-/-) mice were subjected to a clinically relevant model of liver inflammation and fibrosis-associated carcinogenesis. Fgf15(-/-) mice showed less and smaller tumors, and histological neoplastic lesions were also smaller than in Fgf15(+/+) animals. Importantly, ileal Fgf15 mRNA expression was enhanced in mice undergoing carcinogenesis, but at variance with human HCC it was not detected in liver or HCC tissues, while circulating FGF15 protein was clearly upregulated. Hepatocellular proliferation was also reduced in Fgf15(-/-) mice, which also expressed lower levels of the HCC marker alpha-fetoprotein (AFP). Interestingly, lack of FGF15 resulted in attenuated fibrogenesis. However, in vitro experiments showed that liver fibrogenic stellate cells were not direct targets for FGF15/FGF19. Conversely we demonstrate that FGF15/FGF19 induces the expression of the pro-fibrogenic and pro-tumorigenic connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) in hepatocytes. These findings suggest the existence of an FGF15-triggered CTGF-mediated paracrine action on stellate cells, and an amplification mechanism for the hepatocarcinogenic effects of FGF15 via CTGF production. In summary, our observations indicate that ileal FGF15 may contribute to HCC development in a context of chronic liver injury and fibrosis.

Keywords: connective tissue growth factor; fibroblast growth factor 15/19; fibrosis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

LinkOut - more resources