[Over-expression of miR-144 inhibits invasion of liver cancer SMMC-7721 cells in vitro by suppressing TLR/MyD88 pathway].

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effects of over-expression of miR-144 on invasion of SMMC-7721 cells and Toll-like receptor (TLR)/myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88) pathway in hepatocellular carcinoma cells. METHODS The expressions of miR-144 was examined in normal human hepatocyte line HL-7702 and hepatocarcinoma cell line SMMC-7721 using realtime quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR). SMMC-7721 cells were divided into blank group, miR-144 NC group and miR-144 mimics group, and the expressions of miR-144 in each group were detected with qRT-PCR. Cell count kit-8 (CCK8) was used to assess the survival of SMMC-7721 cells, and the cell invasion was evaluated using Transwell assay. The expressions of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2), matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and TLR/MyD88 pathway-related proteins in the cells were detected with Western blotting; the effect of 40 μ mol/L MyD88 inhibitor on TLR/MyD88 pathway-related proteins was examined in SMMC-7721 cells. RESULTS Compared with normal human hepatocytes, SMMC-7721 cells expressed a significantly lower level of miR-144 (P 0.05). CONCLUSIONS Overexpression of miR-144 decreases SMMC-7721 cell survival and invasion by inhibiting TLR/MyD88 pathway.