IL-6/STAT3 signaling was activated aberrantly in HCC tissues and correlated with poor post-surgical outcome.
IL-6/STAT3 pathway was found to enhance TIMP-1 expression directly via p-STAT3-binding with TIMP-1 promoter in vitro.
IL-6/STAT3 pathway in HCC cells was shown to induce the transformation from normal LFs to CAFs via up-regulating TIMP-1.
Co-culture with transformed CAFs promoted the growth of Huh7 cells both in vitro and in vivo.
PCAF was revealed to acetylate cytoplasmic STAT3 protein directly and regulate TIMP-1 expression negatively in HCC cells.