title: MicroRNA-20a-5p targets RUNX3 to regulate proliferation and migration of human hepatocellular cancer cells.
abstract: Growing evidence indicates that some abnormally expressed microRNAs (miRNAs) influence tumorigenesis and progression. Previous studies reported that miR-20a is among the frequently altered miRNAs in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but its expression pattern and role in HCC remain controversial. In the present study, we demonstrated that miR-20a-5p exhibited aberrant expression in HCC tissues compared with paired non-tumor tissues: 52% of the tumor samples showed a greater increase. Overexpression of miR-20a contributed to HCC cell proliferation and migration in vitro, and treatment with anti-miR20a-5p caused the opposite effects. Further studies revealed RUNX3, an important tumor-suppressor, as a direct target of miR-20a-5p. We observed that the level of RUNX3 was sharply reduced in both mRNA and protein in HCC tissues compared with paired non-tumor tissues. Collectively, our results support the viewpoint that miR-20-5p has an oncogenic property, miR-20a overexpression contributed to HCC cell proliferation and migration through reducing the translation of RUNX3. The data provide a new mechanism of miR-20a regulating RUNX3 in HCC.
authors.affiliation: Experiment Center of Biomedical Research, Xi'an Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yanke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics and Cell Biology, Xi'an Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xiaofei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Departments of Hepatobiliary Surgery of The First Affiliated Hospital, Xi'an Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Health Science Center, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jiwen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics and Cell Biology, Xi'an Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics and Cell Biology, Xi'an Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics and Cell Biology, Xi'an Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Ni
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics and Cell Biology, Xi'an Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Na
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics and Cell Biology, Xi'an Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Tusheng
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Experiment Center of Biomedical Research, Xi'an Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D020413:3' Untranslated Regions; D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002465:Cell Movement; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D050677:Core Binding Factor Alpha 3 Subunit / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D015536:Down-Regulation; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D057809:HEK293 Cells; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000502:physiology*; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D034622:RNA Interference
chemical_list: D020413:3' Untranslated Regions; D050677:Core Binding Factor Alpha 3 Subunit; C534451:MIRN20a microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs; C493729:Runx3 protein, human