Deregulated c-Myc requires a functional HSF1 for experimental and human hepatocarcinogenesis

Deregulated activity of the c-Myc protooncogene is a frequent molecular event underlying mouse and human hepatocarcinogenesis. Nonetheless, the mechanisms sustaining c-Myc oncogenic activity in liver cancer remain scarcely delineated. Recently, we showed that the mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) cascade is induced and necessary for c-Myc dependent liver tumor development and progression. Since the heat shock factor 1 (HSF1) transcription factor is a major positive regulator of mTORC1 in the cell, we investigated the functional interaction between HSF1 and c-Myc using in vitro and in vivo approaches. We found that ablation of HSF1 restrains the growth of c-Myc-derived mouse hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell lines, where it induces downregulation of c-Myc levels. Conversely, silencing of c-Myc gene in human and mouse HCC cells led to downregulation of HSF1 expression. Most importantly, overexpression of a dominant negative form of HSF1 (HSF1dn) in the mouse liver via hydrodynamic gene delivery resulted in the complete inhibition of mouse hepatocarcinogenesis driven by overexpression of c-Myc. Altogether, the present results indicate that a functional HSF1 is necessary for c-Myc-driven hepatocarcinogenesis. Consequently, targeting HSF1 might represent a novel and effective therapeutic strategy for the treatment of HCC subsets with activated c-Myc signaling.