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LIVER CANCER

Glycogen phase separation and liver cancer

Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology volume 18, page 831 (2021)Cite this article

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A new study published in Cell suggests that glycogen can accumulate in the early stages of liver cancer, undergoing liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS), disrupting the Hippo signalling pathway and thereby driving tumorigenesis.

First, they observed in both mouse and human liver tissues that glycogen accumulation occurs in pre-malignant lesions. In addition, RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) of liver tissues from diethylnitrosamine (DEN)-treated mice (a model of liver cancer) revealed that expression of glucose-6-phosphatase (G6PC), which catalyses glycogenolysis, was decreased in pre-malignant lesions compared with adjacent normal tissues.

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  1. Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology http://www.nature.com/nrgastro/

    Jordan Hindson

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  1. Jordan Hindson
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Correspondence to Jordan Hindson.

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Hindson, J. Glycogen phase separation and liver cancer. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 18, 831 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-021-00548-9

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