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Upregulation of MicroRNA-937 Predicts a Poor Prognosis and Promotes Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cell Proliferation, Migration, and Invasion

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Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has a high dead rate partly due to late diagnosis. This study aimed to investigate the prognostic value of miR-937 in HCC and its role in the HCC progression. HCC tissue and adjacent non-cancerous tissues (NCT) (n = 125) were detected about the expression level of miR-937 via real-time quantitative PCR. The relationship between miR-937 expression and each important clinical characteristic was evaluated. And the prognostic significance of miR-937 was assessed by Kaplan–Meier curve and Cox regression analysis. CCK-8 and Transwell assays were conducted to observe the effects of miR-937 on HCC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. The miR-937 expression was upregulated in HCC tissues, as well as in HCC cell lines. The upregulation of miR-937 showed a significant association with lymph node metastasis and TNM stage. Upregulation of miR-937 predicted poor prognosis of HCC patients. Overexpression of miR-937 promoted HCC cell ability of proliferation, migration, and invasiveness, while knockdown of miR-937 inhibited these cellular behaviors. miR-937 expression was upregulated in HCC and may serve as a promising prognostic factor and treated target for HCC patients. miR-937 might exert a promoter role in HCC through accelerated tumor cell proliferation, migration, and invasion.

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Acknowledgements

We deeply thanks to the help from Jinyun Li and Yan Wang (Department of Pathology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University) for the tissue pathological confirmation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, No. 1168, Chunrong Road, Kunming, 650500, Yunnan, China

    Zhangbin Chen

  2. Department of General Surgery, The First People’s Hospital of Zhaotong, No. 35, Yiwei Road, Zhaotong, 657000, Yunnan, China

    Yu Zhang

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  1. Zhangbin Chen
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  2. Yu Zhang
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All authors initiated and designed the work, analyzed the data, and wrote and revised the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Zhangbin Chen or Yu Zhang.

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The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Affiliated Hospital of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University.

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Chen, Z., Zhang, Y. Upregulation of MicroRNA-937 Predicts a Poor Prognosis and Promotes Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cell Proliferation, Migration, and Invasion. Mol Biotechnol 64, 33–41 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12033-021-00388-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12033-021-00388-7

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