Knockdown of yes-associated protein inhibits proliferation and downregulates large tumor suppressor 1 expression in MHCC97H human hepatocellular carcinoma cells

The pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is thought to involve the interaction of numerous genes. Identification of these genes and proteins which regulate liver carcinogenesis is critical for the exploration of novel targeted therapies. Yes-associated protein (YAP) and large tumor suppressor 1 (LATS1) are associated with HCC cells. LATS1 is an upstream inhibitory factor of YAP in the Hippo pathway. The aim of the present study was to measure the expression of LATS1 in Yap-downregulated cancer cells. Immunohistochemistry was used to determine YAP and LATS1 levels in HCC tissue samples. High YAP-expressing cell lines were selected from two human hepatocellular carcinoma cells with different metastatic potential. In addition, changes in cell growth rates and LATS1 expression in human HCC 97H cells, in which YAP had been knocked down using RNA interference (RNAi). The proliferation of cells was evaluated using an MTS assay and changes in the progression of cell division were assessed through cell cycle analysis. Western blot analysis was then used to determine YAP and LATS1 expression levels in 97H cells. The results of the present study demonstrated that overexpression of YAP was negatively correlated with LATS1 expression in HCC cells (P=0.016). Knockdown of YAP using lentivirus-small hairpin (sh)RNA significantly inhibited 97H cell growth; in addition, the downregulation of YAP protein levels (33.4%) was accompanied by downregulation of LATS1 protein levels (68.5%). In conclusion, these results demonstrated that as an inhibitor of YAP, LATS1 was decreased via downregulation of YAP using RNAi. This therefore indicated that the change in YAP levels in HCC cells may regulate LATS1 in a feedback manner.