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Benzo[a]pyrene stimulates miR-650 expression to promote the pathogenesis of fatty liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma via SOCS3/JAK/STAT3 cascades
Yang Ge1,† , Pengfei Gu1,† , Wenbo Wang2 , Liyuan Cao1 , Lulu Zhang3 , Jingquan Li1,* , Wei Mu1,* , Hui Wang1,4,*
1State Key Laboratory of Oncogenes and Related Genes, Center for Single-cell Omics, School of Public Health, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China
2Department of Oncology, Shanghai Tenth People’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai 200072, China
3Institute of Military Health Management, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China
4CAS Key laboratory of Nutrition, Metabolism and Food Safety, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China
These authors contributed equally to this work
*Correspondence to:Jingquan Li , Email:jqli@shsmu.edu.cn Wei Mu , Email:weimu@shsmu.edu.cn Hui Wang , Email:huiwang@shsmu.edu.cn
J Mol Cell Biol, Volume 13, Issue 8, August 2021, 556-564,  https://doi.org/10.1093/jmcb/mjab052
Keyword: hepatocellular carcinoma, microRNAs, tumor metastasis, SOCS3, prognostic biomarkers

Modern diets, which often feature high levels of fat and charcoal-grilled meat, contribute to the pathogenesis of obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), resulting in liver cancer progression. Benzo(a)pyrene (B[a]P) is a common environmental and foodborne pollutant found in smoke and fire-grilled foods, which can have an adverse effect on human health. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth leading cause of cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. The epidemiological studies suggest that both environmental risk factors and chronic liver injury including NAFL are important for HCC development, but the precise mechanisms linking eating habits to hepato-carcinogenesis remain unclear. In the present study, we demonstrated that various miRNAs in B[a]P-exposed tumor cells contribute to tumor metastasis, among which miR-650 could be the most potent inducer. Furthermore, we found that the suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3) is directly regulated by miR-650 and its suppression regulates the activation of the Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (JAK/STAT3) cascade. Our findings reveal a possible adverse outcome pathway of SOCS3/JAK/STAT3 regulation in B[a]P-induced HCC progress. These results provide a better understanding of the adverse effects of chronic exposure to B[a]P on human health.