In addition, TM4SF5 expression was significantly associated with tumor size, vascular invasion, tumor differentiation, and tumor-node-metastasis stage.
TM4SF5-mediated EMT contributes to diverse cellular functions, leading to fibrotic phenotypes and initiating and maintaining tumors in primary and/or metastatic regions, in addition to its role in muscle development in zebrafish.
Robust production of TM4SF5-specific antibodies was induced by challenge with CT-26 cells and the tumor growth was significantly suppressed in the immunized mice.
These results suggest that our improved peptide vaccine technology provides a novel prophylaxis measure as well as therapy for HCC patients with TM4SF5-positive tumors.
In this study, TSAHC and two derivatives showed similar antagonistic activities against TM4SF5-mediated signaling and multilayer growth in vitro and anti-tumorigenic activity even in early stages of TM4SF5-mediated tumor formation in nude mice.
Tumor formation in nude mice injected with TM4SF5-expressing cells and the growth of cells expressing endogenous TM4SF5, but not of TM4SF5-null cells, was suppressed by treatment with TSAHC, but not by treatment with its analogs.