Affiliations: [a] Cancer Center of Weifang Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Weifang, Shandong, China | [b] Department of Internal Medicine of Weifang Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Weifang, Shandong, China | [c] Medical Imaging Center of Weifang Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Weifang, Shandong, China
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Shuxian Niu, Department of Internal Medicine of Weifang Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, NO. 1055 Weizhou Road, Kuiwen District, Weifang, Shandong, 261041, China. Tel.: +86 536 8060000; E-mail:nsxwftcm2012@163.com
Abstract: BACKGROUNDS: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is an epithelial cancer
that originates from hepatocytes and it is the most common primary malignant
tumor of the liver. Till now the prognosis of HCC patients is generally
poor. The molecular mechanism giving rise to HCC development and recurrence
is still largely unknown. MicroRNA-31 (miR-31) is among the most commonly
altered microRNAs in human cancers, and alternations of miR-31 expression
were reported to play pivotal roles in tumorigenesis and tumor progression. METHODS: In this work, the primary biological function of miR-31 in
HCC tumorigenesis was investigated. RESULTS: Our data showed that
overexpression of miR-31 induced markedly inhibition of HCC cell
proliferation, migration in vitro and inhibited xenograft tumor growth in vivo. One target
gene of miR-31, NDRG3, was also demonstrated indispensable for HCC cell
survival. Furthermore, miR-31 and NDRG3 were both essential for HCC cell
drug resistance in adriamycin. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that miR-31
is a crucial regulator in hepatocellular carcinoma, miR-31 and its target
gene NDRG3 may be potential therapeutic targets for HCC treatment in the
future.
