The mechanism of miR-190 promoting the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma by regulating the suppressor of cytokine signaling-5

Objective To investigate the mechanism of microRNA-190 （miR-190） mediating the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma （HCC） through regulating the suppressor of cytokine signaling-5 （SOCS5）. Methods The liver cancer tissues and adjacent tissues were collected from 84 HCC patients. The expression level of miR-190 was detected by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR（RT-PCR）, and its correlation with clinical characteristics and prognosis of the patients was analyzed. miR-190 mimic/inhibitor or SOCS5 siRNA （siSOCS5） were transfected into the SNU398 and HepG2 cells. Cell proliferation was detected by CCK-8 assay. Cell invasion and migration were detected by Transwell assay. The expression levels of SOCS5 mRNA and protein were determined by RT-PCR and Western blot. The targeted relationship between miR-190 and SOCS5 was verified by dual-luciferase assay. Tumor xenotransplantation was performed to verify the tumor-suppressing effect of SOCS5 in vivo. Results The expression level of miR-190 in HCC was up-regulated, and high expression of miR-190 was associated with tumor size, lymph node metastasis, clinical stage and poor prognosis（all P < 0.05）.The results of CCK-8 and Transwell assay showed that over-expression of miR-190 could promote cell proliferation, invasion and migration. RT-PCR, Western blot and dual-luciferase assay confirmed that SOCS5 was the true target of miR-190. In addition, SOCS5 could promote the development of HCC both in vivo and in vitro. Conclusion The miR-190 can promote the incidence and development of HCC by targeting SOCS5, indicating that suppressing miR-190 possesses the potential therapeutic value in restoring the SOCS5 level in HCC.