The role of autophagy related 12 (ATG12) in the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma and its prognostic value

The aim of our research was to explore the character of autophagy related 12 (ATG12) in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). A total of  145 HCC tissues as well as paired adjacent normal tissues were collected, then immunohistochemistry was conducted to access the expression of ATG12. HCC cells were transfected with pcDNA ATG12 or si-ATG12 to overexpress ATG12 or downregulate ATG12. The vitality of HCC cells was accessed using CCK-8 assay, and the ability of invasion of them was tested through Transwell assay. The apoptotic rate of HCC cells was calculated by flow cytometry. The expression of ATG12 was lower in HCC tissues than that in normal tissues, and HCC patients with high ATG12 level survived longer. Overexpressed of ATG12 restrained vitality and invasion of HCC cells, while elevated apoptotic rate of HCC cells. Silence of ATG12 expression yielded opposite results to overexpression of ATG12 in HCC cells. In conclusion, ATG12 is low expressed in HCC, which attenuated the growth and invasion of HCC, while induced the apoptosis of HCC cells. Current research suggested that ATG12 might be a potential target for the diagnosis and treatment of HCC.