miR-۹۲a promotes hepatocellular carcinoma cells proliferation and invasion by FOXA۲ targeting

Objective(s): MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are considered as powerful, post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression in hepatocellular carcinoma cells (HCC). However, the function of miR-۹۲a is still unclear in HCC. Materials and Methods: Expression of miR-۹۲a in human HCC cell lines was evaluated using qRT-PCR. MTT assay and transwell assay were used to examine the function of miR-۹۲a in HepG۲ and Huh۷ cells. Bioinformatic analyses and luciferase reporter assays were used to validate FOXA۲ as a direct target gene of miR-۹۲a. Consistently, the biological outcome of miR-۹۲a on regulating FOXA۲ was examined by proliferation and invasion analysis in vitro. Results: Here, we detected the higher expression of miR-۹۲a in human HCC cell lines, such as HepG۲, Huh۷ and Hep۳B, compared with the normal human hepatocyte L۰۲ cells. Overexpression of miR-۹۲a significantly increased cell growth and invasion ability, while the knockdown of miR-۹۲a could remarkably inhibit the growth and invasion possibility. We identified that miR-۹۲a has specific targeting sites in the ۳'-UTR of the FOXA۲. By overexpressing miR-۹۲a in HepG۲ cells or Huh۷ cells, the expression of FOXA۲ was remarkably repressed.  Conclusion: We demonstrated that miR-۹۲a may play a critical role in HCC proliferation and invasion and may serve as a novel therapeutic target by the repression of FOXA۲.