MicroRNA-127 post-transcriptionally downregulates Sept7 and suppresses cell growth in hepatocellular carcinoma cells.
OBJECTIVE
Hepatocellular carcinoma is one of the most common cancers worldwide. It has been suggested that microRNAs, a class of small regulatory RNAs, are associated with tumorigenesis by targeting the mRNAs of hundreds of genes that modulate a variety of biological processes, including cellular differentiation, apoptosis, metabolism, and proliferation.


RESULTS
we analyzed the expression levels of mir-127 in 33 HCC and non-cancerous tissues using qRT-PCR. MiR-127 is downregulated in 69.7% of HCC tissues compared with adjacent normal tissues, but its expression level is not correlated with the TNM stage, AFP level, or age. In vitro, miR-127 can arrest Huh7 at the G2/M phase and inhibit Huh7 cell proliferation. In an in vivo xenograft model, the overexpression of miR-127 can inhibit Huh7 cell tumorigenicity. The luciferase reporter and western blot results confirm that miR-127 downregulates Sept7 expression by targeting its 3'UTR. Furthermore, the knockdown of Sept7 has the same effect on cell proliferation as the overexpression of miR-127 in Huh7 cells.


CONCLUSIONS
miR-127 plays a tumor-suppressor role and can serve as a potential diagnostic biomarker for HCC.
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The Faculty of Basic Medical science, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China, P.R.
Jiansheng
J
Zhou
Shan
S
Lu
Shengsheng
S
Yang
Huan
H
Chen
Hanping
H
Shi
Mingyong
M
Miao
Binghua
B
Jiao
D000818:Animals; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins / Q000172:deficiency* / Q000235:genetics; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000235:genetics; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D015536:Down-Regulation / Q000235:genetics*; D016147:Genes, Tumor Suppressor; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*; D051379:Mice; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*; D058112:Septins / Q000172:deficiency* / Q000235:genetics; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; C547276:MIRN127 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs; C113158:SEPTIN7 protein, human; D058112:Septins