MicroRNA-129-5p promotes proliferation and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma by regulating the BMP2 gene

xlomafota13 shared this article with you from Inoreader MicroRNA-129-5p promotes proliferation and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma by regulating the BMP2 gene Via Experimental and therapeutic medicine Exp Ther Med. 2021 Mar;21(3):257. doi: 10.3892/etm.2021.9688. Epub 2021 Jan 25. ABSTRACT Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a malignant tumor that poses a serious threat to human health. Due to its occult onset and rapid development, HCC is a challenge to diagnose early and effectively treat, and thus patients with HCC often have an unfavorable prognosis. MicroRNA (miR)-129 and its target gene play an important role in the regulation of various diseases. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the role and mechanism of action for miR-129-5p in the development of HCC. Quantitative results of clinical samples analyzed using reverse transcription-quantitative PCR suggested that miR-129-5p had a significantly lower expression level in tumoral tissues compared with corresponding peritumoral tissues. Overexpression of miR-129-5p in HCC cells was performed using a transfection technique, followed by MTT, Transwell, invasion and wound healing assays to detect the effect of miR-129-5p on the cell cytotoxicity and metastasis of liver cancer in vitro. The downstream target gene of miR-129-5p, bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP2), was determined using a luciferase reporter assay. Overexpression of miR-129-5p played a vital role in decreasing cytotoxicity and promoting metastasis of HCC, which may be attributed to its inhibitory effect on the expression of its target gene, BMP2. In clinical samples, miR-129-5p expression levels were found to be negatively correlated with BMP2 and closely associated with HCC metastasis and infiltration. Collectively, the results suggested that miR-129-5p may contribute to proliferation and metastasis of HCC through its target gene, BMP2, and thus may be a potential novel therapeutic target for the treatment of HCC. PMID:33603864 | PMC:PMC7851647 | DOI:10.3892/etm.2021.9688 View on the web Inoreader. Take back control of your news feed. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.