Open Access

MicroRNA-519a promotes tumor growth by targeting PTEN/PI3K/AKT signaling in hepatocellular carcinoma

  • Authors:
    • Kangsheng Tu
    • Zhikui Liu
    • Bowen Yao
    • Shaoshan Han
    • Wei Yang
  • View Affiliations

  • Published online on: December 28, 2015     https://doi.org/10.3892/ijo.2015.3309
  • Pages: 965-974
  • Copyright: © Tu et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been found to play fundamental roles in the pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Previous miRNA array data showed that miR-519a was upregulated in HCC tissues compared to adjacent non-tumor tissues. However, the functional role of miR-519a in HCC remains unexplored. In this study, we demonstrated that the expression of miR-519a was elevated in both HCC tissues and cell lines. Clinical association analysis revealed that high expression of miR-519a was correlated with adverse clinicopathological characteristics including large tumor size, high Edmondson-Steiner grading, advanced tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) tumor stage and venous infiltration. Furthermore, high expression of miR-519a conferred a reduced 5-year overall survival and disease-free survival of HCC patients. Moreover, we disclosed that miR-519a overexpression promoted, but miR-519a silencing reduced, HCC cell proliferation and cell cycle progression in vitro. Notably, we identified phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) as a direct downstream target and functional mediator of miR-519a in HCC cells. Mechanistically, phosphatidylinositol-3-OH kinase (PI3K)/AKT pathway, downstream of PTEN, is essential for the functional roles of miR-519a in HCC cells. In conclusion, our results indicate that miR-519a promotes tumor growth of HCC by targeting PTEN-mediated PI3K/AKT pathway, and potentially serves as a novel prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for HCC.
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March-2016
Volume 48 Issue 3

Print ISSN: 1019-6439
Online ISSN:1791-2423

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Copy and paste a formatted citation
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Spandidos Publications style
Tu K, Liu Z, Yao B, Han S and Yang W: MicroRNA-519a promotes tumor growth by targeting PTEN/PI3K/AKT signaling in hepatocellular carcinoma. Int J Oncol 48: 965-974, 2016.
APA
Tu, K., Liu, Z., Yao, B., Han, S., & Yang, W. (2016). MicroRNA-519a promotes tumor growth by targeting PTEN/PI3K/AKT signaling in hepatocellular carcinoma. International Journal of Oncology, 48, 965-974. https://doi.org/10.3892/ijo.2015.3309
MLA
Tu, K., Liu, Z., Yao, B., Han, S., Yang, W."MicroRNA-519a promotes tumor growth by targeting PTEN/PI3K/AKT signaling in hepatocellular carcinoma". International Journal of Oncology 48.3 (2016): 965-974.
Chicago
Tu, K., Liu, Z., Yao, B., Han, S., Yang, W."MicroRNA-519a promotes tumor growth by targeting PTEN/PI3K/AKT signaling in hepatocellular carcinoma". International Journal of Oncology 48, no. 3 (2016): 965-974. https://doi.org/10.3892/ijo.2015.3309