miR‑202 functions as a tumor suppressor in hepatocellular carcinoma by targeting HK2

Wang,Jiangang; Chen,Jili; Sun,Fang; Wang,Zhiwei; Xu,Wenfang; Yu,Yafeng; Ding,Feng; Shen,Huajiang

doi:10.3892/ol.2020.11334

miR‑202 functions as a tumor suppressor in hepatocellular carcinoma by targeting HK2

Authors:
- Jiangang Wang
- Jili Chen
- Fang Sun
- Zhiwei Wang
- Wenfang Xu
- Yafeng Yu
- Feng Ding
- Huajiang Shen
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Affiliations: Department of Liver Disease, Affiliated Hospital of Shaoxing University, Shaoxing, Zhejiang 312000, P.R. China
Published online on: January 23, 2020 https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2020.11334
Pages: 2265-2271
Copyright: © Wang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

Recent evidence has suggested that microRNAs (miRNAs) can participate in metabolic reprogramming. Additionally, aerobic glycolysis is associated with tumor progression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In the present study, miRNA (miR)‑202 expression levels were found to be significantly lower in HCC tissues compared with the corresponding adjacent non‑cancerous tissue samples using reverse transcription‑quantitative PCR analysis in 56 patients with HCC. Lower miR‑202 expression levels were identified to be associated with tumor size, vascular invasion, Tumor, Node and Metastasis stages and poor overall survival rates in patients with HCC. In vitro, upregulation of miR‑202 expression was revealed to significantly suppress the cell glucose uptake, lactate production and cell proliferation in liver cancer cells. In addition, dual luciferase reporter analysis and western blot assays suggested that hexokinase 2 (HK2) was a direct target of miR‑202. Upregulation of miR‑202 expression could inhibit cell proliferation by regulating HK2 expression in HCC. Therefore, the results from the present study suggested that miR‑202 may serve as a potential target for HCC treatment.

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