7A), thus indicating that c-Src activity was enhanced in the presence of PTPRO. Furthermore, we found decreased Y705 and S727 phosphorylation in PTPRO-overexpressing HCC cells treated with c-Src inhibitor (PD180970)41 (Fig. 7C). Therefore,

these findings indicate that PTPRO-associated STAT3 S727 dephosphorylation is not attributed to the c-Src pathway. Because mTOR was also an important activator of STAT3 S727, we investigated whether the PI3K/mTOR pathway was regulated by PTPRO. p-PI3K, mTOR, and p-mTOR levels were decreased in PTPRO-overexpressing HCC cells and were increased in ptpro−/− mice (Fig. 6C,D). To confirm the role of PI3K/mTOR, PI3K inhibitor (LY294002)42 was utilized to treat PTPRO-overexpressing HCC cells, which then exhibited a lower Y705 phosphorylation

level and a higher S727 level (Fig. 7D). Thus, PTPRO controlled STAT3 S727 phosphorylation through PI3K inactivation. Taken together, CP-690550 in vitro our findings suggest that PTPRO-regulated intracellular signals are incorporated selleck chemicals llc into STAT3 inactivation as a result of the down-regulation of JAK2-dependent Y705 phosphorylation and PI3K-responsive S727 phosphorylation. By contrast, mechanical regulation of PTPRO inhibited c-Src Y527 dephosphorylation, leading to increased c-Src pathway activity and limiting terminal STAT3 inactivation. Over the past several decades, investigators have paid close attention to the sexual disparity observed in HCC, and expression of ERs has been gradually identified in HCC specimens. In this study, we demonstrated that the ERα Progesterone level was markedly reduced in the tumor region, but ERβ level exhibited no significant difference; thus, we focused on the role of ERα. Recently, it was reported that ERα may include a truncated variant (ERα 36) that lacks transcription activation domains; hence, it was not included in this study.43 In the progression of HCC, typical ERα plays a central role in the regulation of estrogen-sensitive genes, including oncogenes and tumor suppressors, exerting a positive or negative effect; it has been suggested by a recent

study that this function of ERα was dependent on Foxa1/2.44 Our recent report demonstrates that ERα was able to inhibit the transcription of IL-1α in HCC.39 According to a previous study, ERα not only binds to EREs, but also interacts with other transcription factors, such as AP-1, specificity protein 1, and NF-κB.45 Unlike the indirect transcriptional regulation of the AP-1 site in breast cancer cells, we confirmed in HCC that ERα binds to the three EREs located in the promoter region of ptpro. ERα enhanced ptpro transcription at ERE A and C and repressed transcription at ERE B; however, the effect still led to significantly increased transcription activity (Fig. 3D). Therefore, reduced ERα expression in male HCC directly leads to the reduction of PTPRO expression levels. Reduced PTPRO expression concerned with hypermethylation in the ptpro promoter has been demonstrated in various cancer types.