{
  "abstract": "Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) drives hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression, yet key EMT-driving genes specifically acting in malignant epithelial subpopulations remain poorly characterized. Here, we systematically screened EMT-related genes with cancer cell-specific high expression in HCC, and investigated the functional roles and downstream mechanisms of FKBP9. We found that FKBP9 was specifically highly expressed in HCC cancer cell subpopulations, and functionally promoted HCC cell proliferation, clonogenicity, migration and EMT progression. Mechanistically, FKBP9 enhanced SEPT6 transcription by upregulating c-MYC, and directly bound to SEPT6 protein to increase its stability, which in turn activated the TGF-β1 signaling cascade to drive EMT. We further validated the preclinical anti-HCC efficacy of pinyonomycin as a putative FKBP9-targeting inhibitor. Our findings indicate that FKBP9 drives HCC progression and EMT via the SEPT6-mediated TGF-β pathway, highlighting FKBP9 as a promising therapeutic target for HCC.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Radiation Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230001, China.",
    "Department of Radiation Oncology, Anhui Provincial Cancer Hospital, Hefei, Anhui, 230031, China.",
    "Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, 230001, China.",
    "Department of Surgery, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, 3400 Civic Center Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.",
    "Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310000, China."
  ],
  "article_type": "research support, non u.s. gov't",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 7,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Yu Zhang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Rixin Su"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Jie Zou"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Wangyang Sun"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Banglong Song"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3,
        4
      ],
      "name": "Long Liu"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Shuanghu Yuan"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ae8sbdpfg2282.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.7150/ijbs.134156",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13685609",
  "id": "ae8sbdpfg2282",
  "issns": [
    "1449-2288"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42909909",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2730|Cancer Cells and Metastasis"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7214628975",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13685609?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13685609",
  "pmid": "42909909",
  "published": "2026-09-11",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ae8sbdpfg2282.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:20:14Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42909909",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42909909"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2730|Cancer Cells and Metastasis",
      "subfield": "oncology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "FKBP9 Drives Hepatocellular Carcinoma EMT by Regulating SEPT6 Transcription and Stability to Activate TGF-β Signaling.",
  "title_text": "FKBP9 Drives Hepatocellular Carcinoma EMT by Regulating SEPT6 Transcription and Stability to Activate TGF-β Signaling.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:20:14Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ae8sbdpfg2282",
  "venue": "International journal of biological sciences",
  "versions": []
}