Effects of targeted-edited oncogenic insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor with specific-sgRNA on biological behaviors of HepG2 cells.

Background: Insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R) is over-expressed in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the relationship between IGF-1R activation and HCC progression remains unidentified.
Aim: To investigate the effects of editing IGF-1R on the biological features of HCC cells.
Methods: Immunohistochemistry analyzed the expressions of IGF-1R and P-glyco protein (P-gp) in HCC tissues and their distal non-cancerous tissues (non-Ca). IGF-1R was edited with Crispr/Cas9 system, screened specific sgRNAs, and then transfected into HepG2 cells. CCK-8, scratch wound test detected cell proliferation, migration, invasion and transwell assays, respectively. Alterations of IGF-1R and P-gp were confirmed by Western blotting. Alterations of anti-cancer drug IC ₅₀ values were analyzed at the cell level.
Results: The positive rates of IGF-1R (93.6%, χ ² = 63.947) or P-gp (88.2%, χ ² = 58.448) were significantly higher ( P < 0.001) in the HCC group than those (36.6% in IGF-1R or 26.9% in P-gp) in the non-Ca group. They were positively correlated between high IGF-1R and P-gp expression, and they were associated with hepatitis B virus infection and vascular invasion of HCC. Abnormal expressions of circulating IGF-1R and P-gp were confirmed and associated with HCC progression. Biological feature alterations of HCC cells transfected with specific sgRNA showed IGF-1R expression down-regulation, cell proliferation inhibition, cell invasion or migration potential decreasing, and enhancing susceptibility of HepG2 cells to anti-cancer drugs.
Conclusion: Edited oncogenic IGF-1R was useful to inhibit biological behaviors of HepG2 cells.
Competing Interests: Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
(©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.)