On October 3, the top Gastroenterology & Hepatology journal Hepatology (IF: 14.079) published the Professor Kong Lingyi’s latest research work entitled: “DEAD Box Protein 5 Inhibits Liver Tumorigenesis by Stimulating Autophagy via Interaction with p62/SQSTM1”, Professor Kong Lingyi is the Vice-President of Chinese Pharmaceutical University and Professor of College of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The corresponding author is Professor Kong Lingyi, Dr. Zhang Hao and PhD candidate Zhang Yanqiu are co-first authors, and the Chinese Pharmaceutical University is the first author and the only corresponding organization.
As we all know, liver cancer is the top leading cause of cancer-related death in China.Because of its high malignancy and poor prognosis, liver cancer is one of the major serious health problems in China. In this study, Professor Kong's team revealed that the low expression of DDX5 (DEAD Box Protein 5) is closely related to the poor prognosis of liver cancer patients. They found that DDX5 bound to p62 and interfered with p62/TRAF6 (TNF receptor associated factor 6) interaction, thereby inhibiting the mTOR signaling pathway and ultimately promoting the autophagy of liver cancer cells. Furthermore, they showed that the miR-17-5p downregulated DDX5 and impaired autophagy. Inhibition of miR-17-5p promoted autophagic flux and suppressed tumor growth in HCC xenograft models. This research work opened a new avenue for the treatment of HCC and drug development.
In the face of the national health challenge and demands, Professor Kong Lingyi's team has been committed to the natural bioactive compound discovery and research, new drug targets discovery and identification. This work revealed that DDX5 was a potential new target for drug screening and liver cancer therapy.
