Overexpression of Chemokine (C-X-C) ligand 1 (CXCL1) associated with tumor progression and poor prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma

Background: Many studies support that chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 1 (CXCL1) regulate tumor epithelial-stromal interactions involving in tumor growth and invasion. However, limited studies have been conducted on the expression and function of the CXCL1 gene in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: The mRNA and protein level expression of CXCL1 was examined in HCC tissues and cell lines. The expression of CXCL1 was correlated with clinicopathological features and follow-up data. Overexpression approaches were used to evaluate the biological functions of CXCL1 by MTT and matrigel invasion assays. Protein expression levels of CXCL1 and P65 were determined by western blot analysis. Results: In this study, we found that CXCL1 expression was markedly upregulated in HCC tissues. Ectopic expression of CXCL1 significantly promoted HCC cells proliferation and invasion. Furthermore, CXCL1 promote cell invasion through NF-kB-dependent pathway. CXCL1 expression in HCC associated with clinical stage (P = 0.034) and distant metastasis (P = 0.028). Moreover, Patients with high CXCL1 expression level had poorer overall survival (OS; P = 0.027) than those with low CXCL1 expression. Conclusions: These data indicated that the CXCL1 upregulation may contribute to both the development and progression of HCC and this effect may be associated with increased proliferation and invasiveness mainly via regulating P65 expression.