Effects and mechanisms of microRNA-122 on invasion and migration of hepatocellular carcinoma cells / 中华肝胆外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To detect the expression of miR-122 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells and tissues,and to explore the role and the underlying mechanisms of miR-122 in HCC cells on invasion and migration.Methods Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction of analysis was used to examine the expression of miR-132 in HCC cell lines,a normal liver cell line,HCC tissues and adjacent non-tumor tissues.Over express or inhibit miR-122 by transfection.The invasion and migration of HCC cells were analyzed by Transwell assays.Meanwhile,related mechanism proteins were detected by western blot,including insulin like growth factor 1 receptor(IGF-1 R),E-cadherin,vimentin.Results The expression of miR-122 was decreased in HCC tissue samples compared with the adjacent non-tumor tissues[(20.5 ± 4.2) × 10-4 vs.(30.3 ± 5.6) × 10-4],especially in HCC tissue samples with HBV [(25.6 ± 3.5) × 10-4 vs.(19.1 ±3.2) × 10-4].The same results were observed in HCC cell lines.MHCC-97H cells exhibited lowest level of miR-122 expression[(33.7 ± 1.3) × 10-3],whereas SMMC-7721 exhibited the highest level of miR-122 expression [(65.3 ± 1.3) × 10-3].MiR-122 over-expression suppressed the invasion and migration of MHCC-97H[(218.7±24.0) vs.(418.0 ±23.4),(392.7±12.8) vs.(706.6±19.8)].Knocking down miR-122 promoted the invasion and migration of SMMC-7721 [(233.0 ± 14.4) vs.(145.0-±8.0),(561.3 ±9.6) vs.(218.0 ± 11.3)].Western blot revealed that miR-122 suppressed the expression of IGF-1R,Vimentin and facilitated the expression of E-cadherin.Conclusions The study indicates that miR-122 is downregulated in HCC,especially in HCC tissue samples with HBV.MiR-122 can suppress invasion and migration of hepatocellular carcinoma by regulating IGF-1R and epithelial mesenchymal transition,and may provide a new therapeutic option for HCC.