miR-149* Suppresses Liver Cancer Progression by Down-Regulating Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor 1-Associated Death Domain Protein Expression.

Liver cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Herein, we show that miR-149* serves as a novel tumor suppressor for liver tumorigenesis. Mice with genetic deletion of miR-149* (miR-149* mice), which caused loss of both miR-149 and miR-149*, were considerably more susceptible to acute liver injury and hepatic carcinogenesis induced by diethylnitrosamine than wild-type mice, accompanied by increased compensatory proliferation and up-regulated gene expression of certain inflammatory cytokines. miR-149* mimics dramatically impaired liver cancer cell proliferation and migration in vitro and blocked liver cancer progression in a xenograft model. Furthermore, miR-149* strongly suppressed NF-κB signaling and repressed tumor necrosis factor receptor type 1-associated death domain protein expression in the NF-κB signaling pathway. These results reveal that miR-149*, as a novel liver tumor suppressor, may serve as a potential therapeutic target for liver cancer treatment.