MicroRNA-10b promotes migration and invasion through CADM1 in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells

• DOI: 10.1007/s13277-012-0396-1
• Publication Date: 2012-04-17T06:19:00Z
• Authors: Qing-jun Li; Liang Zhou; Fan Yang; Guo-xia Wang; Hang Zheng; De-sheng Wang; Yong He; Ke-feng Dou
• Keywords: Adult; Male; 0303 health sciences; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular; Base Sequence; Liver Neoplasms; Cell Adhesion Molecule-1; Immunoglobulins; Hep G2 Cells; Middle Aged; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; MicroRNAs; 03 medical and health sciences; Cell Movement; Humans; Female; Neoplasm Invasiveness; Cell Adhesion Molecules; Aged; Neoplasm Staging

MicroRNA-10b (miR-10b) was recently reported to be dysregulated in some types of cancer and to play a role in invasion and metastasis. However, effects and potential mechanisms of action of miR-10b in the metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have not been explored. In this study, we confirmed that miR-10b is highly expressed in metastatic HCC tissues and in metastatic HCC cell lines by qRT-PCR. Moreover, patients with higher miR-10b expression had significantly poorer overall survival, and high miR-10b expression was an independent predictor of poor prognosis. Inhibition of miR-10b reduced cell migration and invasion in MHCC97H cells, whereas over-expression of miR-10b in HepG2 cells increased cell migration and invasion. Bioinformatics and luciferase reporter assays revealed that miR-10b binds the 3'-UTR of CADM1 mRNA and represses its translation. Western blot and qRT-PCR showed that CADM1 is inhibited by miR-10b over-expression. Silencing of CADM1 resulted in substantially increased cell motility and invasion similar to that observed with over-expression of miR-10b in HepG2 cells. These results suggest that miR-10b may positively regulate the invasion and metastasis of HCC through targeting CADM1.