Effect of miR-21 on the proliferation and migration of human hepatoma BEL-7402 cells through AKT/ERK pathway

Objective:To investigate the effects of miR-21 on the proliferation,invasion and migration of human hepatoma BEL-7402 cells and explore the possible mechanism.Methods:MiR-21 overexpression vector pGL3-miR21-EGFP(enhanced green fluorescent protein) was transfected into BEL-7402 cells.The expression level of miR-21 was detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative-PCR and the expression levels of phospho-AKT(p-AKT) and phospho-extracellular signal response kinase(p-ERK)were detected by Western blotting.The cell viability was examined by MTT assay.The cell migration and invasion abilities were evaluated by wound-healing assay and Transwell assay,respectively.The pGenesilshAKT was transfected into BEL-7401 cells,and then the expression level of miR-21 was detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative-PCR,the expression levels of AKT and p-AKT were detected by Western blotting,the cell viability was examined by MTT assay,and the cell migration ability was evaluated by wound-healing assay.Results:As compared with the blank control(without transfection),the expression levels of miR-21(P0.01),p-AKT and p-ERK(both P0.05) were up-regulated in BEL-7402 cells after transfection with pGL3-miR21-EGFP.As compared with the blank control,over-expression of miR-21 significantly promoted the proliferation,migration and invasion of BEL-7402 cells(all P0.05).After transfection with pGenesil-shAKT vector,the expression levels of AKT and p-AKT were downregulated and the proliferation and migration abilities of BEL-7402 cells were inhibited(P0.05),but the expression level of miR-21 had no significant change.Conclusion:MiR-21 may contribute to the enhancement of proliferation and migration abilities of BEL-7402 cells through AKT/ERK signal pathway.