MiR-5692a promotes proliferation and inhibits apoptosis by targeting HOXD8 in hepatocellular carcinoma

Purpose: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a member of the most frequent malignancies in the world and the poor prognosis of HCC is mainly due to lack of early detection and treatment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of microRNA (miR)-5692a in the progression of HCC and its underlying mechanism. Methods: The relative expression of miR-5692a in HCC tissues and cell lines was evaluated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) assay. Cell counting kit-8 assay and colony formation assay were used to determine cell proliferation. Flow cytometric analysis was carried out to determine cell cycle distribution and apoptotic cells. Bioinformatics analysis and dual luciferase reporter assay were employed to predict and verify the potential targets of miR-5692a. Protein expression level of HOXD8 was assessed by western blotting normalized by GAPDH in transfected cells. Results: The relative expression level of miR-5692a was increased in both HCC tissues and cell lines. According to CCK8 assay and colony formation assay, miR-5692a was considered to promote proliferation in HCC. The consequence of flow cytometric analysis showed that overexpressed miR-5692a accelerated cell cycle and inhibited cell apoptosis. We verified that HOXD8 was a target of miR-5692a via online prediction database and dual luciferase reporter assay. The rescue assay we carried out subsequently validated that miR-5692a functioned as an oncogene by regulating HOXD8 in HCC. Conclusions: This study revealed that miR-5692a had an oncogenic role in HCC by targeting HOXD8 which might bring a novel insight into new therapeutic targets and biomarkers in HCC.