miR-301a Is a Candidate Oncogene that Targets the Homeobox Gene Gax in Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Background MicroRNAs (miRNA) are a group of noncoding small RNAs that repress mRNA expression or induce mRNA degradation by binding to the 3′-untranslated regions of mRNAs. MiRNAs have been connected closely with the development of cancers such as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the overexpression of microRNA-301a (miR-301a) has seldom been connected with tumorigenesis in HCC.