Open Access

ARTICLE

MicroRNA-377 Downregulates Bcl-xL and Increases Apoptosis in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells

Hongyan Ge^*, Di Zou^†, Yingshu Wang^*, Hao Jiang^*, Liping Wang^‡

* Department of Gastroenterology, Affiliated Hospital of Inner Mongolia University for the Nationalities/Clinical Medicine College of Inner Mongolia University for the Nationalities, Tongliao, P.R. China
† Department of Nephrology, The First Affiliated Hospital to Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, Changchun, P.R. China
‡ Department of Gastroenterology, The Affiliated Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University, Hohhot, P.R. China

Oncology Research 2017, 25(1), 29-34. https://doi.org/10.3727/096504016X14719078133168

Abstract

Aberrantly expressed microRNAs (miRNAs/miRs) and their role in cancer development have recently gained more attention. However, the potential role of miRNAs in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains largely unknown. In this study, we demonstrated that miR-377 was markedly downregulated in HCC cell lines and primary human HCC tissues. The decreased expression of miR-377 contributes to the upregulation of Bcl-xL expression by targeting its 3'-untranslated region (3'-UTR). Functionally, knockdown of miR-377 noticeably increased HCC cell growth and colony formation and inhibited apoptosis. In contrast, overexpression of miR-377 suppressed cell proliferation and increased apoptosis. This study provides new insights for the use of miR-377 as a potential molecular target in HCC therapy.

---

Keywords

---