RIO Kinase 3 over Expression Promotes Hepatocellular Carcinoma Invasion through Induction of Epithelial- Mesenchymal Transition and a Potential Link to WNT/β-Catenin Pathway Activation

RIO Kinase 3 over Expression Promotes Hepatocellular Carcinoma Invasion through Induction of Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition and a  Potential Link to WNT/β-Catenin Pathway Activation

Recurrence is a major cause of mortality for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) following liver transplantation. We previously identified RIOK3 as a prominently expressed gene in HCC tumors that recurred following transplantation. This is consistent with findings of increased RIOK3 expression in metastatic head, neck, and pancreatic cancers, which suggests RIOK3 is involved in cancer recurrence. In this study, we aimed to determine the pathway leading to HCC tumor invasion induced by RIOK3.