ABSTRACT
Objective:To investigate the effect of ring finger protein 187 (RNF187) on cell pro-liferation, migration and invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).Methods:Messenger RNA (mRNA) level of RNF187 in HCC was analyzed by bioinformatics. Huh7 cells transfected with small interfering RNA (siRNA) of negative control or target gene respectively were classified as non-transfection (NC) group and RNF187 knockdown group. After 24 hours of transfection, the above two groups dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) were used as NC+ DMSO group and RNF187 knockdown + DMSO group. 24 hours after transfection with siRNA of target gene, the cells dealt with bafliomycin A1 (BFA) were set as RNF187 knockdown + BFA group. The regulation of RNF187 on malignant biological behavior and autophagy level of HCC cells were explored by cell counting kit-8 (CCK8) proliferation assay, cell scratch assay, transwell assay and western blot.Results:Compared with normal liver tissue, the mRNA level of RNF187 was higher in HCC tissue ( P<0.05). Compared with NC group, the absorbance at 48 h and 72 h and the scratch healing rate at 12 h and 24 h of RNF187 knockdown group were all lower, the differences were statistically significant (all P<0.001). The number of transmembrane cells in RNF187 knockdown group (39.50±5.57) at 24 h was lower than that in NC group (128.25±17.35), the differences were statistically significant ( t=9.74, P<0.001). Compared with NC group, the relative expression of total LC3 and Beclin-1 in RNF187 knockdown group all increased, while the relative expression of phosphorylated mammalian target of rapamycin decreased, the difference were statistically significant (all P<0.05). Compared with RNF187 knockdown+ DMSO group, the autophagy flow level, the 48 h and 72 h absorbance, the scratch healing rate at 24 h in RNF187 knockdown + BFA group were higher, the differences were statistically significant (all P<0.001). The number of transmembrane cells in RNF187 knockdown + BFA group (119.00±2.65) was more than that in RNF187 knockdown + DMSO group (57.67±2.52), the differences were statistically significant ( t=29.09, P<0.001). Conclusion:RNF187 is highly expressed in HCC tissue and knockdown of RNF187 inhibits the malignant biological behavior of HCC by enhancing the level of autophagy.