ETV4 facilitates proliferation, migration, and invasion of liver cancer by mediating TGF-β signal transduction through activation of B3GNT3

Biological effect of ETV4 and the underlying mechanism of its regulatory effect on epithelial‑mesenchymal transition in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma cells

“…Conversely, the LV-ETV4-RNAi group displayed a decrease in the expression levels of TGF-β1 and Smad4, with a corresponding increase in Smad7 expression. These results suggested that activation of ETV4 may trigger the TGF-β1/Smad signaling pathway, whereas suppressing ETV4 hinders it, thus aligning with an earlier liver cancer study ( 38 ). Furthermore, the evaluation of E-cadherin, N-cadherin and Vimentin levels through RT-qPCR and western blot analysis revealed that ETV4 may mediate EMT via the TGF-β1/Smad pathway.…”

“…These findings indicated that ETV4 may promote EMT in ICC, leading to peritumoral infiltration or distant metastasis. ETV4 has been reported to activate B3GNT3 and mediate TGF-β1 signal transduction, thereby promoting EMT in liver cancer ( 38 ). In colon adenocarcinoma, knocking out ETV4 has been reported to reduce EMT ( 39 ), which is consistent with the present study.…”