# Molecular Mechanisms of a Male-Specific Positive Feedback Loop in Liver Cancer

> **NIH VA I01** · VETERANS AFFAIRS MED CTR SAN FRANCISCO · 2023 · —

## Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a deadly cancer that affects more Veterans than the general American
population. Risk factors include hepatitis virus infection, obesity, aging, alcohol/drug abuses, toxic exposure, and
genetic/epigenetic predisposition, which collectively promote genetic mutations, cell proliferation and signaling
pathway dysfunctions, leading to cancer. Significantly, men are affected 3 to 6 times higher than women in HCC.
The male predominance in HCC has been a long-standing enigma in the medical field. The male sex hormone
androgen and its receptor, androgen receptor (AR), exacerbate the oncogenic processes, including promotion
of hepatitis viral replication, activation of oncogenes and signaling pathways, and repressing tumor suppressor
activities, thereby exerting male preference in liver cancer. Hence, there are significant interests in antiandrogens
as therapeutics in treatments of HCC in the clinical field. Importantly, we have detected the expression of
constitutively active AR variants, e.g. AR-V7, in selected HCC specimens. Since these AR variants play important
roles in metastatic advances in prostate cancer, their detection in HCC suggests that they could also exert
oncogenic functions in liver cancer. Furthermore, we have identified a male-specific positive feedback loop, in
which a male-specific oncogene TSPY interacts and amplifies AR and AR-V7 transactivation of target genes,
including its own gene, in ligand-dependent and independent manners respectively, thereby potentially affecting
the effectiveness of antiandrogen therapeutics for HCC patients. TSPY is the gene for the gonadoblastoma locus
(GBY) on the Y chromosome. It is a cell cycle regulator, dysfunction of which promotes cell proliferation and
oncogenesis. TSPY-positive HCC patients have worse survival rate than the negative ones while nuclear
locations of AR/AR-V7 signify poor prognosis. Hence, understanding the mechanisms of actions of this male-
specific positive feedback loop between AR/AR-V7 and the Y-located TSPY gene in hepatocarcinogenesis will
provide the scientific foundation for translational applications in diagnosis, prognosis and clinical trials of
antiandrogens as therapeutics in treatments of HCC.
 The project focuses on the synergistic and oncogenic functions of the male-specific positive feedback loop of
AR/AR-V7 and TSPY in hepatocarcinogenesis under 3 specific aims. First, the expression patterns of TSPY, AR
and AR-V7 in paired HCC tumor/non-tumor RNA samples and pathological specimens will be analyzed to
substantiate the existence of such male-specific positive feedback loop and to evaluate if their expression
patterns, including cytological locations, can be used as diagnostic and prognostic signatures for the patients.
Second, the mechanisms of AR and AR-V7 transcriptional activation of the Y-located TSPY will be studied in
HCC cells and mouse livers using hydrodynamic transfection strategy. Third, the oncogenic functions of TSPY,...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10695981
- **Project number:** 5I01BX004446-05
- **Recipient organization:** VETERANS AFFAIRS MED CTR SAN FRANCISCO
- **Principal Investigator:** YUN-FAI CHRIS LAU
- **Activity code:** I01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** VA
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-07-01 → 2024-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10695981

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10695981, Molecular Mechanisms of a Male-Specific Positive Feedback Loop in Liver Cancer (5I01BX004446-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10695981. Licensed CC0.

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