TRIM16 E121D variant affects the risk and prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma by modulating the Wnt/β-catenin pathway.

TRIM16 has been identified as a tumor suppressor in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study aimed to investigate whether there are genetic variants in TRIM16 influencing HCC risk and/or prognosis and explore the mechanisms. We performed a gene-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) mining in TRIM16. The associations of SNPs with both HCC risk and prognosis were assessed through two independent cohorts respectively. Functional experiments were performed to investigate the underlying mechanisms. A missense variant rs2074890 (G > T, resulting in an amino acid substitution from glutamate to aspartate at code 121, E121D) of TRIM16 was found to be associated with both HCC risk (odds ratio = 0.806, p = 0.023) and prognosis (hazard ratio = 0.44, p = 0.034). Compared to the rs2074890 G allele (corresponding to TRIM16 121E ) homozygote carriers, the rs2074890 T allele (corresponding to TRIM16 121D ) carriers showed lower HCC risk and better overall survival. Mechanistically, TRIM16 121D has stronger ability to inhibit proliferation, migration, and invasion of HCC cells. Furthermore, TRIM16 121D could bind to β-catenin better and mediate K48-linked ubiquitination to degrade β-catenin, which leads to inhibition of Wnt/β-catenin pathway. In conclusion, TRIM16 E121D variant impacts both risk and prognosis of HCC via regulation of Wnt/β-catenin pathway, which may lead to better understanding the pathogenesis of HCC.