Accordingly, silencing of the PLK3 gene triggered hepatocarcinogenesis in a mouse model.18 Moreover, we frequently found LOH for the PLK4 gene in many HCC samples, with the highest incidence in HCCP. The PLK4 locus is located at the chromosomal band 4q28.1, which is frequently affected by LOH in HCC and whose crucial role in liver carcinogenesis has been envisaged.36, 37 In accordance with the latter

hypothesis, PLK4 heterozygosity resulted in spontaneous liver tumor development in a mouse model, which was associated with centrosome amplification and induction of chromosomal instability19 as characteristically observed in human check details HCC.37, 38 Thus, PLK4 might be one of the pivotal tumor suppressor genes located in the 4q28.1 chromosome region,

whose loss contributes to human hepatocarcinogenesis. Furthermore, we have investigated in more detail the role of PLK1 on cell cycle regulation in human HCC cell lines. Our data confirm the important function of PLK1 in regulating both the G2/M phase of the cell cycle and the apoptotic process, supporting previous observations in various cancer cell lines.25, 39, 40 In particular, the present findings indicate that PLK1 is able to inhibit apoptosis in a p53 family–dependent manner, as observed in Hep3B and HepG2 cell lines. It has been demonstrated that PLK1 interacts with the DNA binding domain of p53, thereby decreasing its stability and transcriptional activity.26 The latter mechanism might explain YAP-TEAD Inhibitor 1 the increased apoptosis rate reported in HepG2 cells (p53 wild-type) with subsequent down-regulation of antiapoptotic proteins following PLK1 silencing. Recently, a physical interaction between PLK1 and p73, another member of the p53 family, has been demonstrated in different cell lines.27, 28 Like p53, p73 transactivates many p53 target genes involved in cell cycle control and apoptosis. PLK1 is able to phosphorylate p73 at the threonine 27 residue within its transactivation domain, thereby abrogating its transcriptional activity.27, this website 28 We detected an increase in p73 protein level and its target genes following silencing of PLK1

expression in Hep3B and HepG2 cells. Up-regulation of the p73 protein was also observed in MCF7 breast cancer cells expressing the p53 gene,27 confirming that p73 induction by PLK1 is independent of p53 in different cellular contexts. In a recent report, a therapeutic approach using a PLK1 inhibitor resulted in dramatic tumor regression in nude mice bearing xenografts of HCT116 colorectal cancer cells in which the p53 gene was disrupted, suggesting a crucial function of PLK1 for the growth of p53-deficient tumor cells.41 Similarly, we show here that the growth of SNU-182 cells overexpressing Ha-Ras, FOXM1, and PLK1 is dramatically reduced and impaired when this axis is disrupted by either FOXM1 or PLK1 suppression through siRNA in vitro (Fig. 7D).