Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a highly prevalent and malignant cancer. SLC10A1, a member of solute carrier family 10 (SLC10), is expressed at lower levels in HCC tissues than in adjacent paracancerous tissues. N'-nitrosonicotinic acid (NNN) is a known carcinogen in tobacco, and its role in the development and progression of HCC remains unclear. CCK-8 assays showed that overexpression of SLC10A1 significantly inhibited the proliferation of HepG2 and HCCLM3 cells. Scratch and Transwell assays showed that overexpression of SLC10A1 significantly reduced cell migration. Furthermore, overexpression of SLC10A1 inhibited the adhesion of both cell lines to various extracellular matrix components, including type I collagen, fibronectin, and polylysine. Compared to the control group, the number of clones formed in the SLC10A1 overexpression group was significantly reduced. In cisplatin treatment experiments, overexpression of SLC10A1 reduced the half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of cisplatin. Furthermore, NNN-treated hepatocellular carcinoma cells exhibited enhanced proliferative capacity. Western blot analysis showed that SLC10A1 overexpression reduced AKT and ERK phosphorylation levels, effectively inhibiting the PI3K/AKT and MAPK/ERK signaling pathways. Therefore, these results indicate that SLC10A1 has an inhibitory effect on the proliferation, migration, adhesion, and colony formation of hepatocellular carcinoma cells. These inhibitory effects are achieved by inhibiting the PI3K/AKT and MAPK/ERK signaling pathways.
Clonogenic assays showed that SLC10A1-overexpressing HepG2 and HCCLM3 cells formed significantly fewer colonies than control cells (p < 0.001 for HepG2; p < 0.0001 for HCCLM3) (Figure 1A). To explore SLC10A1's role in tumor microenvironment interactions, researchers quantified adhesion to extracellular matrix components (fibronectin, collagen I and poly-L-lysine). The results showed that SLC10A1 overexpression reduced adhesion to all tested substrates in HepG2 (p < 0.01 for fibronectin; p < 0.001 for collagen I; p < 0.0001 for poly-L-lysine) and HCCLM3 cells (p < 0.01 for fibronectin; p < 0.001 for collagen I and poly-L-lysine) (Figure 1B). These results indicate that SLC10A1 extensively disrupts tumor-stroma adhesion mechanisms.
Figure 1. SLC10A1 inhibits HCC cells colony formation and cells adhesion. (Fan W, et al. 2025)