The potential mechanism of miR-130b on promotion of the invasion and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma by inhibiting Notch-Dll1.

This study aimed to elucidate the regulatory role and molecular regulation mechanism of miR-130b gene in the process of invasion and metastasis of hepatocarcinoma, and provide a theoretical basis for seeking of effective prevention and treatment of new targets for hepatocellular carcinoma. The expression level of miR-130b gene in hepatocarcinoma tissues was determined by qRT-PCR. The biological function and mechanism of miR-130b gene were verified by cell and animal models, and the target gene was verified by double luciferase assay. In the liver cancer tissues of patients with metastasis, the expression level of miR-130b gene was increased, and the difference was significantly significant ( < 0.05). Evaluation of independent risk factors for overall survival showed significant difference ( < 0.01). Up-regulation of miR-130b in MHCC97L- subpopulation cells significantly enhanced the invasion and migration ability, and the difference was statistically significant ( < 0.05). The invasion and migration ability of MHCC97H + subpopulation cells with increased expression of miR-130b was significantly decreased, and the difference was notably significant ( < 0.05). When the expression of miR-130b in MHCC97H + subpopulation cells was inhibited, the expressions of Notch-Dll1 and SOX2, Nanog and E2F3 proteins in transplanted tumor tissues were significantly higher than those in other groups ( < 0.05). When miR-130b in MHCC97L- subpopulation cells was up-regulated, the expressions of Notch-Dll1 and Bcl-2, CCND1, Nanog and MET proteins in transplanted tumor tissues were significantly increased than those in other groups ( < 0.05). The prediction results of bioinformatics data suggest that the target gene of miR-130b may be Notch-Dll1 gene. The experiment of luciferase reporter gene confirmed that miR-130b gene can be inhibited and contains fluorescent reporter gene with complementary binding site, lost activity. The miR-130b gene can inhibit the protein expression of Notch-Dll1, and it can promote the invasion and metastasis of liver cancer cells.