Systematic Characterization of the Disruption of Intestine during Liver Tumor Progression in the xmrk Oncogene Transgenic Zebrafish Model

Li, Yan1; Lee, Ai Qi1; Lu, Zhiyuan1,2; Sun, Yuxi1,3; Lu, Jeng-Wei1; Ren, Ziheng1; Zhang, Na1,3; Liu, Dong3; Gong, Zhiyuan1

2022-06-01

10.3390/cells11111810

CELLS   Impact Factor & Quartile

2073-4409

The crosstalk between tumors and their local microenvironment has been well studied, whereas the effect of tumors on distant tissues remains understudied. Studying how tumors affect other tissues is important for understanding the systemic effect of tumors and for improving the overall health of cancer patients. In this study, we focused on the changes in the intestine during liver tumor progression, using a previously established liver tumor model through inducible expression of the oncogene xmrk in zebrafish. Progressive disruption of intestinal structure was found in the tumor fish, displaying villus damage, thinning of bowel wall, increase in goblet cell number, decrease in goblet cell size and infiltration of eosinophils, most of which were observed phenotypes of an inflammatory intestine. Intestinal epithelial cell renewal was also disrupted, with decreased cell proliferation and increased cell death. Analysis of intestinal gene expression through RNA-seq suggested deregulation of genes related to intestinal function, epithelial barrier and homeostasis and activation of pathways in inflammation, epithelial mesenchymal transition, extracellular matrix organization, as well as hemostasis. Gene set enrichment analysis showed common gene signatures between the intestine of liver tumor fish and human inflammatory bowel disease, the association of which with cancer has been recently noticed. Overall, this study represented the first systematic characterization of the disruption of intestine under the liver tumor condition and suggested targeting intestinal inflammation as a potential approach for managing cancer cachexia.

HCC liver tumor intestine gut-liver axis cancer cachexia zebrafish

SCI

English

Others

Ministry of Education of Singapore at Singapore["R154000B88112","R154000B70114"] ; Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Committee[JCYJ 20180302174233348] ; Shenzhen-Hong Kong Institute of Brain Science-Shenzhen Fundamental Research Institutions at Shenzhen, China[2021SHIB0002]

Cell Biology

Cell Biology

WOS:000808742400001

MDPI

Web of Science

1.Natl Univ Singapore, Dept Biol Sci, Singapore 117543, Singapore
2.Sichuan Agr Univ, Anim Nutr Inst, Chengdu 611130, Peoples R China
3.Southern Univ Sci & Technol, Dept Biol, Shenzhen 518055, Peoples R China

Li, Yan,Lee, Ai Qi,Lu, Zhiyuan,et al. Systematic Characterization of the Disruption of Intestine during Liver Tumor Progression in the xmrk Oncogene Transgenic Zebrafish Model[J]. CELLS,2022,11(11).

Li, Yan.,Lee, Ai Qi.,Lu, Zhiyuan.,Sun, Yuxi.,Lu, Jeng-Wei.,...&Gong, Zhiyuan.(2022).Systematic Characterization of the Disruption of Intestine during Liver Tumor Progression in the xmrk Oncogene Transgenic Zebrafish Model.CELLS,11(11).

Li, Yan,et al."Systematic Characterization of the Disruption of Intestine during Liver Tumor Progression in the xmrk Oncogene Transgenic Zebrafish Model".CELLS 11.11(2022).