Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma is a cancer that has a high incidence in men, and its incidence is increasing year by year. Studies show that angiogenesis plays an important role in the formation of tumors, not only providing nutrients to tumor cells, but also closely related to tumor growth and metastasis. So, how to find new anti-vascular and anti-tumor targets for the pathogenesis of liver cancer is a key issue that needs to be resolved.
Methods: After treating HUVEC and HepG2 cells with different concentrations of TP, the relationship between TP's anti-vascular and anti-tumor activities and sphingolipids was investigated respectively. Then, the three-dimensional co-culture model was used to explore the correlation between HUVEC and HepG2 cells, and to find the relationship between it and sphingolipids.
Results: TP can inhibit the tube formation process of HUVEC cells. Through PCR Array, PCR and Western Blot experiments, it is found that it may achieve this effect by down-regulating SPTLC2. TP can also inhibit the proliferation, migration and invasion of HepG2 cells through the same mechanism. In the three-dimensional co-culture model of HUVEC and HepG2 cells, it was found for the first time that HUVEC can promote the biological process of HepG2 cells. It was found through ELISA and Western Blot experiments that it may be achieved through the S1P/S1PRS pathway, and TP was found in the dosing experiment. It can significantly inhibit the induction of HUVEC on HepG2 cells.
Conclusions: These data confirm that the level of SPTLC2 may be related to the anti-vascular and anti-tumor effects of TP. The data also showed that there is a correlation between the viability of HepG2 cells and HUVEC cells, which may be related to the expression of S1P/S1PRS. Ultimately, these data may help discover new anti-tumor targets.