Regulators of liver cancer stem cells

Figure 1 Molecular factors that regulate the stemness of liver cancer stem cells. The factors that regulate liver cancer stem cells (LCSCs) include the pluripotency transcription factor (pTF) network, in which pTFs affect the expression of one another to promote the development of LCSCs, the WNT signaling pathway, which is often activated by gene mutations, the IL6/STAT3 pathway, which can also be stimulated by hepatitis B virus or hepatitis C virus, the tumor-suppressive HIPPO pathway, the NOTCH signaling pathway, and hepatocyte growth factor and its downstream MAPK signaling pathway. Specific microRNAs such as miRNA-130b and miRNA-142-3p, and lncRNAs such as HOTAIR and MALAT1 can also promote the stemness of LCSCs. pTF: Pluripotency transcription factor; IL: Interleukin; HBV: Hepatitis B virus; HCV: Hepatitis C virus; YAP: Yes-associated protein; TEAD: TEA domain; iNOS: Inducible nitric oxide synthase; HGF: Hepatocyte growth factor.