Local hyperthermia inhibits proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma cells via regulating the Hippo signaling pathway

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third malignant tumor in the world. Many evidences have demonstrated that hyperthermia exerts a crucial role in cancer therapy. However, it remains elusive whether hyperthermia restrains HCC progression and the underlying molecular mechanism of hyperthermia on HCC is unknown. Here, we find that local hyperthermia has a strong anti-liver tumor effect in vivo and in vitro. Heat stimulus decreases the proliferation of liver cancer cells in vitro and suppresses the tumor growth in mice through inducing apoptosis. Furthermore, RNA-seq results have demonstrated that the Hippo signaling pathway plays a major role in heat therapy. Mechanistically, heat stimulation restrains the expression of YAP protein in the nucleus. Together, all our results have suggested that heating therapy inhibits the proliferation of HCC cells by regulating the Hippo signaling pathway, suggesting YAP is a potentially promising target for HCC therapy.