MicroRNA-373 exerts anti-tumor functions in human liver cancer by targeting Rab22a

Liver cancer is a one of the most frequent types of tumor worldwide. It has long been recognized that microRNAs are important participants in the progression of various types of cancer. The present study explored the role of microRNA-373 (miR-373) in liver cancer development. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction was performed to evaluate the transcription level of miR-373 in 96 liver cancer tissues and adjacent normal liver tissues. The association of miR-373 with clinicopathological characteristics was analyzed using the chi(2) test. Kaplan-Meier univariate analysis and multivariate hazard analysis were performed to identify the clinical potential of miR-373 in the prognosis of liver cancer patients. Transfection of miR-373 mimics into Hep3B and HepG2 liver cancer cell lines was conducted to reveal the underlying mechanism in regulating liver cancer progression. The functional assays included proliferation, migration, invasion and luciferase assays. The findings of the present study demonstrated that miR-373 transcription level was markedly downregulated in liver cancer tissues compared with the adjacent normal tissues and was associated with the clinical prognosis of liver cancer patients. Overexpressing miR-373 mimics in liver cancer cell lines decreased cell proliferation and invasion, suggesting that miR-373 exerts anti-tumor effects in liver cancer. In addition, data from the present study demonstrated the direct effect of miR373 on inhibiting the expression and signaling of Ras-related protein Rab22a, a well-known oncoprotein. Taken together, the results from the present study suggested that miR-373 suppresses liver cancer progression and may serve as a promising prognosis prediction biomarker.