The effect of microRNA-194 on the proliferation and migration of hepatoma cells

Objective To detect the expression of microRNA (miRNA, miR)-194 in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues and hepatoma cell lines, and further explore the effect of miR-194 on the proliferation and migration of hepatoma cells. Methods Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to detect the expression of miR-194 in 20 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma and 20 cases of adjacent tissues and hepatocellular carcinoma cell line HepG2 and normal liver cell line L02. The hepatocellular carcinoma cell line overexpressing or low expressing miR-194 was established The cell proliferation assay, cell cycle assay, scratch assay, and Western blotting were used to detect the cancer cell migration and proliferation change and its related mechanism. Results The relative expression of miR-194 in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues was significantly higher than that in the tissue adjacent to carcinoma (0.364±0.040 vs. 0.198±0.028, t=3.176, P=0.003). The relative expression of miR-194 in HepG2 cells was also significantly higher than that in the normal liver cell line (0.517±0.069 vs. 0.181±0.025, t=4.557, P=0.010). In miR-194 overexpressed cell lines, the cell proliferation (1.857±0.170 vs. 1.019±0.019, t=7.065, P=0.000) and migration (0.483±0.084 vs. 0.927±0.030, t=5.181, P=0.008) significantly increased as compared with the control group of hepatocellular carcinoma cells, and in miR-194 low expression group the cell proliferation ability decreased significantly as compared with the control group (0.529±0.095 vs. 1.019±0.019, P=0.006) in hepatocellular carcinoma cells. the expression of Wnt protein in the over expressed miR-194 was significantly higher than the control group (0.589±0.194 to 0.302±0.013, t=3.035, P=0.039); and the expression of β-catenin protein was significantly higher than the control group (0.941±0.101 to 0.220±0.115, t=9.434, P=0.000), the differences were statistically significant, and the low expression of miR-194 cells Wnt protein (0.310±0.028 to 0.260±0.026, t=1.308, P=0.261) and β-catenin protein (0.179±0.028 to 0.080±0.034, t=2.242, P=0.088) compared with the control group was no statistically significant difference. Conclusion The overexpression of miR-194 in hepatocellular carcinoma is associated with the increased proliferation and invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma cells, probably by upregulating the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. Key words: Carcinoma, hepatocellular; MicroRNA-194; Cell proliferation; Cell migration; Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway