Catalpol inhibits cell proliferation, invasion and migration through regulating miR-22-3p/MTA3 signalling in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of liver malignancy with high rates of recurrence and mortality worldwide. Unfortunately, effective strategies for the management of HCC are still unsatisfactory. The aim of this investigation is to explore the effects of catalpol on HCC progression and investigated the mechanistic functions of catalpol in HCC. Catalpol significantly suppressed cell viability, caused the suppression in colony growth, decreased number of invaded and migrated HCC cells, and increased the rates of apoptotic cells and proportions of HCC cells at G0/G1 cell cycle phase. Furthermore, catalpol dramatically up-regulated miR-22-3p expression in HCC cells, and knockdown of miR-22-3p attenuated the anti-tumor effects of catalpol in HCC. Additionally, results from luciferase reporter assay demonstrated that miR-22-3p targeted the metastasis associated 1 family member 3 (MTA3) 3'untranslated region (3'UTR), and miR-22-3p down-regulated MTA3 expression in HCC cells. Overexpression of MTA3 enhanced HCC cell proliferative abilities, increased the number of invasive and migratory HCC cells, and also attenuated the anti-tumor potentials of catalpol in HCC. Catalpol suppressed HCC tumor growth and increased miR-22-3p expression, while down-regulated MTA3 expression in dissected tumor tissues from xenograft nude mice. Collectively, our results for the first time revealed the anti-tumor potentials of catalpol in HCC, and the anti-tumor effects mediated by catalpol were via modulating the miR-22-3p/MTA3 axis in HCC.

Zhao L ，Wang Y ，Liu Q 《-》

Overexpression of circ_0021093 circular RNA forecasts an unfavorable prognosis and facilitates cell progression by targeting the miR-766-3p/MTA3 pathway in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Increasing studies have demonstrated the important roles of circular RNAs (circRNAs) in human malignancies. Nevertheless, the molecular mechanisms and functions of circRNAs in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are still not fully understood. In the present study, we evaluated circ_0021093 expression in 82 pairs of HCC tissues and 5 cell lines by qRT-PCR. The clinical implications of circ_0021093 were evaluated. In addition, the viability, apoptosis, migration and invasion capacities of different HCC cells were evaluated by gain-/loss-of-function experiments. Target prediction and dual-luciferase reporter experiments were performed to identify the molecular mechanisms of circ_0021093. Upregulation of circ_0021093 was found in HCC tumor samples and cells. Additionally, upregulated circ_0021093 was related to adverse clinical characteristics and an unfavorable prognosis. Furthermore, downregulated circ_0021093 attenuated cell growth, migration and invasion but increased cell apoptosis. By contrast, ectopically expressed circ_0021093 enhanced the abovementioned malignant biological behaviors. For mechanism exploration, circ_0021093 sponges of miR-766-3p were used in HCC cells. In addition, we found that metastasis-associated protein 3 (MTA3) was a direct target of miR-766-3p and that the oncogenic function of circ_0021093 was partly dependent on the miR-766-3p/MTA3 axis according to rescue assays. In conclusion, the circ_0021093/miR-766-3p/MTA3 regulatory axis may be an effective therapeutic target for HCC.

Liu L ，Qi X ，Gui Y ，Huo H ，Yang X ，Yang L ... -  《-》

Midazolam inhibits proliferation and accelerates apoptosis of hepatocellular carcinoma cells by elevating microRNA-124-3p and suppressing PIM-1.

Recently, the impact of microRNAs (miRNAs) has been identified in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), this study was designed to assess the effects of miR-124-3p and midazolam (MDZ) in HCC with the involvement of PIM-1. HepG2 human HCC cells were selected for our study, which were treated with different concentrations of MDZ. The gain- and loss-of-function experiments were performed to elucidate the migration, invasion, proliferation, colony formation ability, cell cycle, and apoptosis of HepG2 cells upon treatment of MDZ, miR-124-3p mimics, or miR-124-3p inhibitor. The expression levels of miR-124-3p, PIM-1, Bax, Bcl-2, P21, and Ki-67 in HepG2 cells were assessed by reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis. Moreover, HepG2 cell growth in vivo was measured by subcutaneous tumorigenesis in nude mice, and the target relation between miR-124-3p and PIM-1 was evaluated using dual luciferase reporter gene assay. We have found that after treated with overexpression of miR-124-3p and MDZ, there exhibited elevated miR-124-3p, declined expression of PIM-1, attenuated migration, invasion, proliferation and colony formation ability, and promoted apoptosis of HepG2 cells. Additionally, it could be observed that the tumor volume and weight were all reduced upon treatment of overexpression of miR-124-3p and MDZ. Meanwhile, the results in the HepG2 cells that treated with down-regulated miR-124-3p were the opposite. Furthermore, PIM-1 was found to be a target gene of miR-124-3p. Our study found that MDZ could inhibit proliferation and accelerate apoptosis of HCC cells by elevation of miR-124-3p and suppressing PIM-1, which may be an effective method in the treatment of HCC.

Qi Y ，Yao X ，Du X 《-》

Catalpol inhibits the proliferation, migration and metastasis of HCC cells by regulating miR‑140‑5p expression.

Wu L ，Li H ，Chen S ，Wu X ，Chen X ，Wang F ... -  《-》

MicroRNA-301b-3p contributes to tumour growth of human hepatocellular carcinoma by repressing vestigial like family member 4.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are key regulators in the tumour growth and metastasis of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Increasing evidence suggests that miR-301b-3p functions as a driver in various types of human cancer. However, the expression pattern of miR-301b-3p and its functional role as well as underlying molecular mechanism in HCC remain poorly known. Our study found that miR-301b-3p expression was significantly up-regulated in HCC tissues compared to adjacent non-tumour tissues. Clinical association analysis revealed that the high level of miR-301b-3p closely correlated with large tumour size and advanced tumour-node-metastasis stages. Importantly, the high miR-301b-3p level predicted a prominent poorer overall survival of HCC patients. Knockdown of miR-301b-3p suppressed cell proliferation, led to cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase and induced apoptosis of Huh7 and Hep3B cells. Furthermore, miR-301b-3p knockdown suppressed tumour growth of HCC in mice. Mechanistically, miR-301b-3p directly bond to 3'UTR of vestigial like family member 4 (VGLL4) and negatively regulated its expression. The expression of VGLL4 mRNA was down-regulated and inversely correlated with miR-301b-3p level in HCC tissues. Notably, VGLL4 knockdown markedly repressed cell proliferation, resulted in G2/M phase arrest and promoted apoptosis of HCC cells. Accordingly, VGLL4 silencing rescued miR-301b-3p knockdown attenuated HCC cell proliferation, cell cycle progression and apoptosis resistance. Collectively, our results suggest that miR-301b-3p is highly expressed in HCC. miR-301b-3p facilitates cell proliferation, promotes cell cycle progression and inhibits apoptosis of HCC cells by repressing VGLL4.

Guo Y ，Yao B ，Zhu Q ，Xiao Z ，Hu L ，Liu X ，Li L ，Wang J ，Xu Q ，Yang L ，Huang D ... -  《-》