Affiliations: [a] Department of Oncology, Zaozhuang Municipal Hospital, Zaozhuang, Shangdong, China | [b] Department of Logistics, Yidu Central Hospital of Weifang, Weifang, Shandong, China | [c] Department of Oncology, Dongying People’s Hospital, Dongying, Shandong, China | [d] Department of Infectious Diseases, Affiliated Hospital of Weifang Medical University, Weifang, Shandong, China | [e] Department of Gastroenterology, Dongying People’s Hospital, Dongying, Shandong, China
Correspondence:
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Corresponding authors: Jie Gao, Department of Gastroenterology, Dongying People’s Hospital, No. 317, Nanyi Road, Dongying, Shandong, China. Tel./Fax: 86 0546 833 1577; E-mail: q5gjd45@163.com.
Note: [1] The three authors contributed equally to this work.
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Increasing evidence reveals that aberrant microRNAs (miRNAs) expression play a crucial role in the tumorigenesis of cancers, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), whereas the role of miR-654-3p in HCC remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the role of miR-654-3p in HCC. METHODS: Real-time quantitative PCR was performed to detect miR-654-3p expression in HCC tissues and cell lines. The association of miR-654-3p expression with clinical characteristics of HCC patients were analyzed. And the prognostic value of miR-654-3p was examined using Kaplan-Meier curve and Cox regression analysis. CCK-8 and Transwell assays were used to observe the effects of miR-654-3p on proliferation, migration, and invasion of HCC cells. RESULTS: The miR-654-3p expression was downregulated in both HCC tissues and cell lines, which was significantly associated with lymph node metastasis and TNM stage. Downregulation of miR-654-3p predicted poor prognosis of HCC patients. Overexpression of miR-654-3p inhibited HCC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, while knockdown of miR-654-3p promoted these cellular behaviors in vitro. CONCLUSION: Our study suggested that miR-654-3p expression was downregulated in HCC and might serve as a potential prognostic marker and therapeutic target for the survival of HCC patients. miR-654-3p might exert a suppressor role in HCC through inhibiting tumor cell proliferation, migration, and invasion.
