Inhibition of Liver Cancer Cell Invasiveness and Metastasis by Sodium Valproate and 5-Aza-2′-deoxycytidine

Liver cancer is a kind of malignant tumor with high recurrence rate and high metastasis rate, which threatens human health all over the world. The study aimed to explore the mechanism sodium valproate (VPA) plus 5-Aza-2'-deoxycytidine (5-Aza-CdR) modulates the miR-370/PIM-1 proto-oncogene (PIM1) axis to inhibit the invasiveness and metastasis of liver cancer (LC) cells. The study demonstrated that miR-370 was remarkably down-regulated while PIM1 was evidently up-regulated. The mimics of the former remarkably suppressed the invasiveness and migration of tumor cells, while the effect of its inhibitors was significantly opposite. There was a definite targeting relationship between miR-370 and PIM1. In addition, VPA and 5-Aza-CdR distinctly up-regulated miR-370, inhibited PIM1, and reduced tumor cell metastasis. Therefore, VPA plus 5-Aza-CdR can inhibit LC cell invasiveness and metastasis by modulating the miR-370/PIM1 axis.