MiR-503-5p regulates cell epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, metastasis and prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma through inhibiting WEE1

S.-P. Jiang, Z.-R. Li

Department of General Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China. 2378184318@qq.com

---

• Oncology

OBJECTIVE: To explore the role and underlying mechanism of MicroRNA-503-5p (miR-503-5p) in the metastasis and prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty-three pairs of surgical HCC specimens and adjacent tissue samples were obtained, and Huh7, Hep3B, HCCLM3, MHCC-97H, MHCC-97L, LO2, and HEK293T cell lines were used for this study. The transwell assay was used to detect cell migration and invasion. Additionally, Western blot and quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) were used to detect relative protein and mRNA expression levels, respectively.

RESULTS: High miR-503-5p expression inhibited cell mobility in HCCLM3 cells, while low miR-503-5p expression promoted cell migration and invasion in HCCLM3 cells. The same effect of miR-503-5p on EMT was also observed in HCC through Western blot. We then performed a dual-luciferase assay to show that WEE1 is a direct target of miR-503-5p in HCC. Furthermore, WEE1 knockdown inhibited EMT and cell metastasis in HCC cells. WEE1 overexpression impaired the inhibitory effect of miR-503-5p in HCC

CONCLUSIONS: MiR-503-5p inhibited cell EMT and metastasis through inhibiting WEE1, which predicted prognosis of HCC. MiR-503-5p and WEE1 may be used as potential biomarkers for the prognosis of HCC.

Free PDF Download