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LNA Inhibitor in microRNA miR-23b as a Potential Anti-proliferative Option in Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma

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Abstract

Purpose

Dysregulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) has been shown to be involved in the pathogenesis and progression of many malignancies. Human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common cancers worldwide and the third cause of cancer-related deaths. Recent data suggest that microRNA-23b (miR-23b) is significantly high in different types of cancer, specifically human hepatocellular carcinoma. Locked nucleic acid (LNA)–modified oligonucleotides have recently been suggested as a novel approach for targeting miRNAs as antisense-based gene silencing. The aim of this study was to explore the functional role of LNA-anti-miR-23b in a HepG2 (hepatocarcinoma) cell line.

Methods

HepG2 cells were transfected with LNA-anti-miR-23b for 24, 48, and 72 h. Quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase-PCR (qRT-PCR) was performed to assess miR-23b expression by LNA-anti-miR-23b. The viability of the cells was evaluated by MTT (3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) assay.

Results

LNA-anti-miR-23b was successfully transfected into human HepG2 cells and suppressed the miR-23b. LNA-anti-miR-23b reduced the invasive behaviors of HepG2 cells after 24 h, compared to untreated cells and scrambled LNA-transfected cells, and this effect was more pronounced after 72 h.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that inhibition of miR-23b could be used as a novel approach in inhibition of HCC proliferation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

    Zoya Najafi & Gholamreza Javadi

  2. Department of Genetics and Molecular Biology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

    Mohammadreza Sharifi

Authors
  1. Zoya Najafi
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  2. Mohammadreza Sharifi
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  3. Gholamreza Javadi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mohammadreza Sharifi.

Ethics declarations

This study was approved by the local ethics committee of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences (Iran), and the studies have been approved by the appropriate institutional and/or national research ethics committee and have been performed in accordance with the ethical standards, as laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Najafi, Z., Sharifi, M. & Javadi, G. LNA Inhibitor in microRNA miR-23b as a Potential Anti-proliferative Option in Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma. J Gastrointest Canc 51, 109–115 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12029-019-00215-y

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