Effects of TMEM206 on the malignant behavior of HepG2 human hepatocellular carcinoma cells

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common cancer of the digestive system. Recently, transmembrane proteins (TMEMs) have been extensively studied in different types of malignant tumors. However, the influence of TMEM206 in hepatocellular carcinoma is unclear. The UALCAN database was used to investigate the expression of TMEM206 mRNA in liver cancer tissues and used the Human Protein Atlas (THPA) to study the expression of TMEM206 in HCC tissues. The expression of TMEM206 was measured in normal liver HL-7702 cells and HepG2, SMMC-7721, and Bel-7402 liver cancer cells. Next, a lentivirus was used to knockdown TMEM206 in HepG2 cells. Furthermore, after verifying knockdown, we studied the effect of TMEM206 downregulation on the malignant behavior of HepG2 and on the PI3K/AKT pathway. TMEM206 was highly expressed in liver cancer cells ( p < 0.001). Downregulation of TMEM206 significantly inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion of HepG2, significantly promoted the apoptosis of HepG2, and inhibited the expression of P-PI3K and P-AKT. TMEM206 can affect the malignant behavior of HCC. And the PI3K/AKT pathway was affected. This study provides new ideas for the treatment of HCC.