Ras related GTP binding D promotes aerobic glycolysis of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Abstract Introduction and Objectives Warburg effect is attracting increasing attention as it is important for cancer progression. However, how cancer cells regulate glucose metabolism through glycolysis is still unknown. Here, we demonstrated the regulatory role of Ras related GTP binding D (RRAGD) in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. Patients or Materials and Methods Kaplan-Meier’s analysis was used to analyze the correlation between RRAGD expression levels and prognosis of HCC patients from the Cancer Genome Atlas database. Two stable RRAGD knockdown HCC cell lines were created using shRNAs to investigate cancer progression and aerobic glycolysis. Western blot and quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction were performed to detect the expression levels of RRAGD and MYC. Results RRAGD expression was elevated in HCC patients with poor prognosis. RRAGD knockdown could inhibit the proliferation, invasion and migration of Huh-7 and HepG2 cells. Interestingly, silence RRAGD was able to reduce the glucose uptake, lactate production and extracellular acidification rate of HCC. RRAGD expression level was up-regulated by oncogene MYC in HCC cells. Conclusion This study highlights RRAGD as an important cancer-promoting factor for cancer progression and aerobic glycolysis, and thereby it is a potential therapeutic target for HCC intervention.