title: miR-1236 down-regulates alpha-fetoprotein, thus causing PTEN accumulation, which inhibits the PI3K/Akt pathway and malignant phenotype in hepatoma cells.
abstract: Alpha fetoprotein (AFP) is a clinical biomarker of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Here, we found that miR-1236 is down-regulated, whereas AFP is highly expressed in HCC tissues and cells. We demonstrated that miR-1236 directly targets the 3'UTR of AFP and down-regulates its expression. Also, miR-1236 inhibited and AFP stimulated proliferation, migration, invasion and vasculogenic mimicry (VM) of HCC. In agreement, AFP over-expression counteracted the inhibitory effect of miR-1236. We demonstrated that AFP promoted the ubiquitination of PTEN, thus decreasing PTEN levels, while miR-1236 inhibited the PI3K/Akt pathway.
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Life Science Research Center and Basic Medical School, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Life Science Research Center and Basic Medical School, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Chunli
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Secondary Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Jiancheng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gan
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Life Science Research Center and Basic Medical School, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Xi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oncology in Southern China, Department of Hepatobiliary Oncology, Cancer Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Zeyu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Shuang
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Life Science Research Center and Basic Medical School, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oncology in Southern China, Department of Hepatobiliary Oncology, Cancer Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Shengping
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Life Science Research Center and Basic Medical School, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D015536:Down-Regulation; D005260:Female; D057809:HEK293 Cells; D056945:Hep G2 Cells; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D051059:PTEN Phosphohydrolase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D010641:Phenotype; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014162:Transfection; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: C097353:AFP protein, human; C571208:MIRN1236 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D051059:PTEN Phosphohydrolase; C494929:PTEN protein, human
keywords: AFP; PTEN; hepatocellular cancer; microRNA; microRNA-1236