Lentiviral vector-based insertional mutagenesis identifies new clinically relevant candidate cancer genes involved in the pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma

We devised a novel insertional mutagenesis approach based on lentiviral vectors to induce hepatocellular carcinoma in three mouse models and identified four novel cancer initiating genes. Two genes are the well characterized Braf and Sos1, while the other two are Fign, encoding an AAA ATPase whose functions are poorly understood, and the paternally expressed gene Rtl1 within the complex Dlk1-Dio3 imprinted region recently involved in stemness. Interestingly, Fign and Braf regulate the expression of the maternal genes of the Dlk1-Dio3 imprinted region, suggesting that both maternally and paternally expressed genes of this region play a role in hepatocarcinogenesis. Moreover, all the genes identified are upregulated and/or amplified/deleted in human hepatocellular carcinoma and play a relevant role in human hepatocarcinogenesis, as their expression levels and/or transcriptional signatures induced by their deregulation predict a different clinical outcome in hepatocellular carcinoma patients.

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