RALY, a heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein, binds to nascent RNA and participates in multiple aspects of RNA metabolism, including transport, splicing, transcription, and translation. Recent studies have revealed that RALY is overexpressed in various cancers, such as breast, uterine, and liver cancers. This overexpression has been associated with poor patient survival and uncontrolled carcinoma cell proliferation. In this study, we demonstrate that RALY functions as a key regulator of cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in the hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell lines Hep3B and HepG2. Mechanistically, RALY promotes epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) through regulation of the transcription factor Snail. RALY directly binds to Snail mRNA, thereby enhancing its stability. In addition, RALY modulates the TGF-β signaling pathway to promote Snail transcription. Together, our findings establish a functional link between RALY and EMT and reveal a previously unrecognized role of RALY in cancer cell metastasis. Accumulating evidence, including the results presented here, suggests that RALY represents a potential therapeutic target for cancer treatment.
Kim et al. (Tue,) studied this question.