Hepatocellular carcinoma hosts cholinergic neural cells and tumoral hepatocytes harboring targetable muscarinic receptors.

ABSTRACT:

Background & aims

Owing to unexplained interpatient variation and treatment failure in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), novel therapeutic approaches remain an urgent clinical need. Hepatic neurons, belonging to the autonomic nervous system (ANS), mediate liver/whole body crosstalk. Pathological innervation of the ANS has been identified in cancer, nurturing tumor stroma and conferring stronger carcinogenic properties.

Methods

We characterized the innervation of liver tumors from the French Liver Biobank, then applied bioinformatics to TCGA (The Cancer Genome Atlas), several other datasets and a European validation cohort, to re-evaluate patient stratification. Cell biology and pharmacology studies were also performed.

Results

Densely packed nucleated DCX⁺, s

SUBMITTER: Hernandez CA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11663970 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature