miR-187-3p inhibits the metastasis and epithelial-mesenchymal transition of hepatocellular carcinoma by targeting S100A4.

miR-187-3p, a novel cancer-related microRNA, was previously reported to play promoting or suppressive roles in different malignancies. However, the expression level, biological function, and underlying mechanisms of miR-187-3p in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain unknown. This study demonstrated that miR-187-3p was significantly down-regulated in HCC tissues and cell lines, and was associated with advanced TNM stage and metastasis in HCC. Functional studies confirmed that miR-187-3p could inhibit the metastasis of HCC both in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, we proved that miR-187-3p could prevent the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of HCC cells. Mechanically, S100A4 was a direct downstream target of miR-187-3p, and mediated the functional influence of miR-187-3p in HCC. Furthermore, miR-187-3p and S100A4 expression was evidently correlated with adverse clinical features and poor prognosis of HCC. Lastly, we showed that hypoxia was responsible for the significantly decreased level of miR-187-3p in HCC, and miR-187-3p was involved in the promoting effects of hypoxia on the metastasis and EMT of HCC cells. Taken together, miR-187-3p inhibits the metastasis and EMT in HCC by targeting S100A4. miR-187-3p can serve as a prognostic indicator and a promising therapeutic target for HCC patients.

Dou C ，Liu Z ，Xu M ，Jia Y ，Wang Y ，Li Q ，Yang W ，Zheng X ，Tu K ，Liu Q ... -  《-》

MiR-542-3p inhibits metastasis and epithelial-mesenchymal transition of hepatocellular carcinoma by targeting UBE3C.

Accumulating evidence demonstrates that aberrant miRNAs contribute to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development and progression. However, the roles of various miRNAs in HCC remain to be determined. In present research, we confirmed that a reduced miR-542-3p expression was present in HCC tissues and cell lines. Our clinical analysis revealed that the down-regulated miR-542-3p expression was significantly correlated with poor prognostic features including advanced TNM stage and venous infiltration. Moreover, we confirmed that miR-542-3p was a novel independent prognostic marker for predicting 5-year survival of HCC patients. The ectopic overexpression of miR-542-3p inhibited cell migration, invasion and EMT progress, while down-regulated miR-542-3p reversed the effect. In addition, miR-542-3p could regulate UBE3C by directly binding to its 3'-UTR. In clinical samples of HCC, miR-542-3p inversely correlated with UBE3C, which was upregulated in HCC. Alternation of UBE3C expression at least partially abolished the migration, invasion and EMT progress effects of miR-542-3p on HCC cells. In conclusion, our results indicated that miR-542-3p functioned as a tumor suppressor gene in regulating the EMT and metastasis of HCC via targeting UBE3C, and may represent a novel potential therapeutic target and prognostic marker for HCC.

Tao J ，Liu Z ，Wang Y ，Wang L ，Yao B ，Li Q ，Wang C ，Tu K ，Liu Q ... -  《-》

Methylation-associated silencing of microRNA-129-3p promotes epithelial-mesenchymal transition, invasion and metastasis of hepatocelluar cancer by targeting Aurora-A.

Cui S ，Zhang K ，Li C ，Chen J ，Pan Y ，Feng B ，Lu L ，Zhu Z ，Wang R ，Chen L ... -  《Oncotarget》

FoxM1 overexpression promotes epithelial-mesenchymal transition and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Meng FD ，Wei JC ，Qu K ，Wang ZX ，Wu QF ，Tai MH ，Liu HC ，Zhang RY ，Liu C ... -  《-》

MicroRNA-451: epithelial-mesenchymal transition inhibitor and prognostic biomarker of hepatocelluar carcinoma.

Huang JY ，Zhang K ，Chen DQ ，Chen J ，Feng B ，Song H ，Chen Y ，Zhu Z ，Lu L ，De W ，Wang R ，Chen LB ... -  《Oncotarget》