Exogenous adenosine 5′-triphosphate (ATP) boosts these signaling pathways,

whereas rapamycin inhibits such aberrant responses in hepatocytes. Conclusion: Deletion of Cd39 and resulting changes in disordered purinergic signaling perturb hepatocellular metabolic/proliferative responses, paradoxically resulting in malignant transformation. These findings might impact adjunctive therapies for PLX4032 in vivo cancer. Our studies indicate that the biology of autochthonous and transplanted tumors is quite distinct. (HEPATOLOGY 2013) Hepatocarcinogenesis is linked to chronic inflammation. Under these circumstances, disordered cellular proliferation, with decreases in autophagy and aberrant metabolism, might predispose to malignant transformation.

The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) has been shown to play a critical role in these processes.1 More specifically, in these settings, Ras and phosphatidylinositol-3-OH kinase (PI3K) pathways converge to activate mTOR in response to nutrients and to mitogens.2 The role of purinergic signaling3, 4 in hepatocarcinogenesis is unexplored. In hepatocytes, extracellular nucleotides (specifically adenosine 5′-triphosphate [ATP] and uridine 5′-triphosphate [UTP]) up-regulate Ca2+ signaling and activate mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades (namely, c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase [JNK] and extracellular signaling-related kinase [ERK]) as well as X-396 ic50 transcription factor nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) through the activation find more of type 2 purinergic (P2) receptors.4, 5 Although such molecular pathways are clearly

associated with tumorigenesis, it is unknown whether such effects occur by way of the mTOR signaling pathway, given that Ras and PI3K are often components of P2 receptor signaling.6 CD39/ENTPD1 (nucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase-1) is the dominant ectonucleotidase expressed by hepatic endothelium, Kupffer cells, and sinusoidal lymphocytes and catalyzes nucleotide phosphohydrolysis.3, 4 We have previously shown that CD39 expression on regulatory T cells (Treg) inhibits natural killer (NK) cell activity and is permissive for the growth of metastatic tumors in the liver.7 Further, vascular-expressed CD39 boosts angiogenesis8 and directly promotes tumor cell growth by scavenging cytotoxic extracellular ATP.9 We have further demonstrated that mice globally deficient in Cd39 exhibit metabolic disturbances such as glucose intolerance, increased hepatic glucose production, insulin resistance, and increased plasma levels of insulin and fatty acids, all associated with heightened inflammatory markers.10 Curiously, these mutant mice also exhibit disordered liver regeneration and increased liver injury with impediments to endothelial cell-dependent hepatocyte proliferation, which is then further compromised by failure of vascular reconstitution in these mutant mice.