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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Molecular and Cellular Oncology
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1537481
Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor-Regulated Long Non-Coding RNAs: Implications for Glycolipid Metabolism and Prognosis in Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Provisionally accepted
Xiaoli Xiao 1 Yao Liu 2 Xiaoyong Qu 3 Luogen Liu 1
GuoQing Li 1 Honghui Chen 1 Linlin Zhou 1
Yanping Liu 4*- 1 The Second Affiliated Hospital, Hengyang Medical School, University of South China, Hengyang, China
- 2 The First Affiliated Hospital of Shaoyang University, Shaoyang, Hunan, China
- 3 Second Affiliated Hospital, University of South China, Hengyang, China
- 4 Second Affiliated Hospital of University of South China, Hengyang, China
Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths with limited treatment options. Tumor metabolic disorder is elevated in HCC and activates the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), a transcription factor implicated in cancer progression. However, the role of AHR in regulating long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and their impact on glycolipid metabolism remains underexplored. Materials and Methods: We investigated AHR's influence on several HCC cell lines treated with the AHR ligand. RNA sequencing was performed to identify the differentially expressed (DE) lncRNAs and mRNAs. We analyzed the differences and then conducted functional pathway enrichment of the identified DE lncRNAs and mRNAs. Furthermore, we constructed co-expression networks of lncRNAs and mRNAs and performed survival analysis using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data. Results: RNA sequencing identified a substantial number of lncRNAs and mRNAs. DEG analysis identified the significant differences between them related to cancer progression, with pathways such as PI3K-Akt, VEGF, and PPAR signaling highlighted. A co-expression network was utilized to elucidate the lncRNA–mRNA interactions and their regulation of glycolipid metabolism.Survival analysis identified the AHR-regulated lncRNAs associated with poor prognosis, like ASAP1-IT1 and RMDN2-AS1. Conclusion: This study clarifies AHR's role in regulating gene expression and metabolism in HCC, revealing novel lncRNA biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets that could aid HCC . Further research is needed to explore AHR's effects on the regulation of glucose-lipid metabolism in HCC.
Keywords: Hepatocellular Carcinoma, RNA-sequencing, Aryl hydrocarbon receptors, Glucose and lipid metabolism, mRNAs
Received: 30 Nov 2024; Accepted: 21 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Xiao, Liu, Qu, Liu, Li, Chen, Zhou and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Yanping Liu, Second Affiliated Hospital of University of South China, Hengyang, China
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