[miR-491 inhibits the proliferation, invasion and migration of hepatocellular carcinoma cell via down-regulating TPX2 expression].

Abstract To investigate the level and clinical significance of miR-491 expression in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and the underlying mechanisms. Real-time quantitative PCR was applied to detect the expression of miR-491 in HCC and the corresponding tumor-adjacent tissues. The proliferation of MHCC-97H cells was tested by MTT assay. TranswellTM assay was performed to measure the invasion and migration of MHCC-97H cells. The expression of targeting protein for Xklp2 (TPX2) was determined by Western blotting and immunohistochemistry. The expression level of miR-491 in HCC tissues was significantly lower than that in the adjacent normal tissues, and it was obviously associated with tumor size, TNM stage, portal vein infiltration and Edmondson degree. Patients in the lower miR-491 group had a worse 3-year survival than those in higher miR-491 group. Overexpression of miR-491 in MHCC-97H cells markedly suppressed cell proliferation, invasion and migration, and downregulated the protein expression of TPX2. Correlation analysis showed that miR-491 level was negatively correlated with TPX2 expression level in HCC tissues. The expression of miR-491 in HCC tissue is significantly lower than that in tumor-adjacent tissues and correlated with the malignant clinical pathological features. miR-491 inhibits HCC cell proliferation, invasion and migration by downregulating the expression of TPX2.