ARAP1: A Novel Therapeutic Target for Hepatocellular Carcinoma

///'This study identifies ARAP1 as a potential therapeutic target for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) through multi-omics data analysis of HCC tissues and HepG2 cells. To further validate the role of ARAP1 in HCC, we performed cell line experiments and mouse model studies. Firstly, we chose the HepG2 cell line and silenced ARAP1 gene expression using siRNA technology. Western blot and real-time quantitative PCR analysis confirmed the silencing effect of ARAP1. Results showed that compared with the control group, the ARAP1 silencing group had significantly reduced cell proliferation and migration abilities, while the cell apoptosis rate was significantly increased. Moreover, we observed that ARAP1 silencing led to cell cycle arrest in the G1 phase, suggesting that ARAP1 may be involved in the proliferation and metastasis of HCC cells. Next, we established a mouse liver cancer model, injecting ARAP1 silenced HepG2 cells and control HepG2 cells into model mice. By measuring tumor volume and mass, we found that the tumor growth rate was significantly slowed in the ARAP1 silencing group, and the tumor mass was significantly lower than the control group. Further immunohistochemical staining results showed that the proportion of Ki-67 positive cells in tumor tissues in the ARAP1 silencing group was significantly reduced, indicating that ARAP1 silencing inhibited the proliferative capacity of tumor cells. In conclusion, we confirmed that ARAP1 plays a significant role in hepatocellular carcinoma, and its silencing can inhibit tumor cell proliferation, migration ability, and induce apoptosis. These findings provide strong experimental evidence for further research on ARAP1 as a therapeutic target for hepatocellular carcinoma.///