Overexpression of UHRF2 in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma and its clinical significance

Ubiquitin-like with PHD and ring finger domains 2 (UHRF2) has been implicated in tumorigenesis. However, its roles in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) are still unclear. In this study, UHRF2 expression was analyzed in several kinds of cancers by referring to public Oncomine database, and the levels of UHRF2 mRNA and protein were determined in ICC cells and tissues. Then, the roles of UHRF2 in ICC were investigated by UHRF2 interference. Moreover, the relationship between UHRF2 and E-cadherin expression was examined in ICC cells and samples. Finally, the prognostic role of UHRF2 in ICC was analyzed in 139 ICC patients by Cox regression and Kaplan-Meier methods. We found UHRF2 was overexpressed in multiple human cancers, as well as in ICC, and the invasion, migration, proliferation, and antiapoptosis of ICC cells were inhibited by UHRF2 interference. Moreover, the epithelial-mesenchymal transition-related marker E-cadherin was upregulated in ICC cells which was influenced by UHRF2 expression. Clinically, UHRF2 expression was positively associated with microvascular invasion and lymphatic metastasis of ICC, and patients in the UHRF2high group had much lower overall survival and higher recurrence rates than patients in the UHRF2low group. A multivariate analysis revealed that UHRF2 overexpression was a new prognostic marker for ICC. Thus, our results indicated that high level of UHRF2 might be a novel predictor for the prognosis of ICC.