CPEB2 Suppresses Hepatocellular Carcinoma Epithelial–Mesenchymal Transition and Metastasis through Regulating the HIF-1α/miR-210-3p/CPEB2 Axis

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a prevalent and high-mortality cancer worldwide, and its complexity necessitates novel strategies for drug selection and design. Current approaches primarily focus on reducing gene expression, while promoting gene overexpression remains a challenge. In this work, we studied the effect of cytoplasmic polyadenylation element binding protein 2 (CPEB2) in HCC by constructing tissue microarrays (TAMs) from 90 HCC cases and corresponding para-cancerous tissues. Our analysis showed that CPEB2 expression was significantly reduced in HCC tissues, and its low expression was associated with a higher recurrence risk and poorer prognosis in patients with head and neck cancer. CPEB2 was found to regulate HCC epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) and metastasis through the HIF-1α/miR-210-3p/CPEB2 feedback circuit. Using the RNA binding protein immunoprecipitation (RIP) assay, we demonstrated that miR-210 directly governs the expression of CPEB2. The inverse relationship between CPEB2 expression and miR-210-3p in HCC tissues suggested that this regulatory mechanism is directly linked to HCC metastasis, EMT, and clinical outcomes. Moreover, utilizing the SM2miR database, we identified drugs that can decrease miR-210-3p expression, consequently increasing CPEB2 expression and providing new insights for drug development. In conclusion, our findings illustrated a novel HIF-1α/miR-210-3p/CPEB2 regulatory signaling pathway in HCC and highlighted the potential of enhancing CPEB2 expression through targeting miR-210-3p as a novel predictive biomarker and therapeutic strategy in HCC, as it is modulated by the HIF-1α/miR-210-3p/CPEB2 feedback circuit.