Overexpression of DDX 3 inhibits cellular activity in hepatocellular carcinoma cells

Human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common and deadly cancers worldwide. DDX3, a highly conserved subfamily of the DEAD-box proteins, has been reported different expression in various tumors. DDX3 has been regarded as a potential target for cancer therapy, but the functional role and the molecular mechanisms of DDX3 in HCC is still unclear. In the present study, we performed western blotting analysis to detect DDX3 expression levels in HCC cells and observed significantly lowering levels compared to normal liver cell lines. Moreover, we overexpressed DDX3 and examine the cellular activity in HCC cells. Lower cell viability and migration capacity were observed after DDX3 overexpression. Furthermore, the relationship between HCV, HIV and DDX3 were evaluated by qRT-PCR and western blotting analysis and we found that HIV-Tat and HIV-Rev may induce the expression of DDX3 and influence the expression level of HCV. Taken together, our results demonstrated that DDX3 plays a crucial role in promoting cellular activity of HCC cell and evaluated the relationship between HCV, HIV and DDX3, which could serve as a valuable therapeutic target for liver disease.