Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide;nevertheless, currenttherapeutic options are limited or ineffective for many patients. Therefore, elucidation of molecular mechanisms inHCC...Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide;nevertheless, currenttherapeutic options are limited or ineffective for many patients. Therefore, elucidation of molecular mechanisms inHCC biology could yield important insights for the intervention of novel therapies. Recently, various studies havereported dysregulation of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in the initiation and progression of HCC, including H19;however, the biological function of H19 in HCC remains unclear. Here, we show that knockdown of H19 disruptedHCC cell growth, impaired the G1-to-S phase transition, and promoted apoptosis, while overexpression of H19yielded the opposite results. Screening for expression of cell cycle-related genes revealed a significant downregulationof CDK6 at both RNA and protein levels upon H19 suppression. Bioinformatic analysis of the H19 sequence and the3′ untranslated region (3′ UTR) of CDK6 transcripts showed several binding sites for microRNA-107 (miR-107), andthe dual luciferase reporter assay confirmed their direct interaction with miR-107. Consistently, blockage of miR-107activity alleviated the growth suppression phenotypes induced by H19 downregulation, suggesting that H19 serves asa molecular sponge for miR-107 to promote CDK6 expression and cell cycle progression. Together, this studydemonstrates a mechanistic function of H19 in driving the proliferation of HCC cells and suggests H19 suppressionas a novel approach for HCC treatment.展开更多
基金financially supported by Thailand Science Research and Innovation Fund Chulalongkorn University(CU_FRB65_hea(46)_053_30_34)Ratchadapiseksompotch Fund,Faculty of Medicine,Chulalongkorn University(Grant No.RA 66/017)+1 种基金Thailand Research Fund(TRF)Senior Research Scholar(Grant No.RTA6280004)the Center of Excellence in Hepatitis and Liver Cancer,Faculty of Medicine,Chulalongkorn University.
文摘Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide;nevertheless, currenttherapeutic options are limited or ineffective for many patients. Therefore, elucidation of molecular mechanisms inHCC biology could yield important insights for the intervention of novel therapies. Recently, various studies havereported dysregulation of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in the initiation and progression of HCC, including H19;however, the biological function of H19 in HCC remains unclear. Here, we show that knockdown of H19 disruptedHCC cell growth, impaired the G1-to-S phase transition, and promoted apoptosis, while overexpression of H19yielded the opposite results. Screening for expression of cell cycle-related genes revealed a significant downregulationof CDK6 at both RNA and protein levels upon H19 suppression. Bioinformatic analysis of the H19 sequence and the3′ untranslated region (3′ UTR) of CDK6 transcripts showed several binding sites for microRNA-107 (miR-107), andthe dual luciferase reporter assay confirmed their direct interaction with miR-107. Consistently, blockage of miR-107activity alleviated the growth suppression phenotypes induced by H19 downregulation, suggesting that H19 serves asa molecular sponge for miR-107 to promote CDK6 expression and cell cycle progression. Together, this studydemonstrates a mechanistic function of H19 in driving the proliferation of HCC cells and suggests H19 suppressionas a novel approach for HCC treatment.
