Direct interaction of platelet with tumor cell aggravates hepatocellular carcinoma metastasis by activating TLR4/ADAM10/CX3CL1 axis

Metastasis is the main culprit of cancer-related death and account for the poor prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma. Although platelets have been shown to accelerate tumor cell metastasis, the exact mechanism remained to be fully understood. Here, we found that high blood platelet counts and increased tumor tissue ADAM10 expression indicated the poor prognosis of HCC patients. Meanwhile, blood platelet count has positive correlation with tumor tissue ADAM10 expression. In vitro, we revealed that platelet increased ADAM10 expression in tumor cell through TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway. ADAM10 catalyzed the shedding of CX3CL1 which bound to CX3CR1 receptor, followed by inducing epithelial to mesenchymal transition and activating RhoA signaling in cancer cells. Moreover, knockdown HCC cell TLR4 (Tlr4) or inhibition of ADAM10 prevented platelet-increased tumor cell migration, invasion and endothelial permeability. In vivo, we further verified in mice lung metastatic model that platelet accelerated tumor metastasis via cancer cell TLR4/ADAM10/CX3CL1 axis. Overall, our study provides new insights into the underlying mechanism of platelet-induced HCC metastasis. Therefore, targeting the TLR4/ADAM10/CX3CL1 axis in cancer cells hold promise for the inhibition of platelet-promoted lung metastasis of HCC.