Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Sorafenib, a multi-kinase inhibitor, is the first-line therapy for advanced HCC. However, long-term exposure to sorafenib often results in reduced sensitivity and the development of resistance. Although various amino acids have been shown to contribute to cancer initiation and progression, little is known about the effects of histidine, a dietary essential amino acid that is partially taken up via histidine/large neutral amino acid transporter (LAT1), on cancer cells. In this study, we evaluated the effects of histidine on HCC cells and sensitivity to sorafenib. Remarkably, we found that exogenous histidine treatment induced a reduction in the expression of tumor markers related to glycolysis (GLUT1 and HK2), inflammation (STAT3), angiogenesis (VEGFB and VEGFC), and stem cells (CD133). In addition, LAT1 expression was downregulated in HCC tumor regions with high expression of GLUT1, CD133, and pSTAT3, which are known to induce sorafenib resistance. Finally, we demonstrated that combined treatment with sorafenib and histidine could be a novel therapeutic strategy to enhance the sensitivity to sorafenib, thereby improving long-term survival in HCC.
Keywords: cancer metabolism; drug sensitivity; hepatocellular carcinoma; histidine; sorafenib.