Let-7b contributes to hepatocellular cancer progression through Wnt/β-catenin signaling

• Main Authors: Yiwei Wang, Yanbo Mo, Lin Wang, Peng Su, Yuxi Xie
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2018-07-01
• Series: Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1319562X18300731

Elevated evidences show that microRNAs (miRNAs) play vital roles in tumor progression regulation. However, the functional role of let-7b in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is still largely unknown. In this study, we try to investigate the biological activity of let-7b in human HCC cells and try to find the potential regulatory signaling pathway. Our results indicate that let- 7b was remarkably down-regulated in human HCC tissues by qRT-PCR. In addition, let-7b overexpression decreased the expression of β-catenin and c-Myc, while upregulated E-cadherin expression in HCC cells which was verified by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and western blotting. Furthermore, Wnt/β-catenin was involved in let-7b biological activity which was revealed by luciferase assay. Moreover, Wnt/β-catenin signaling inhibitor blocks HCC cell proliferation which is as the same pattern as let-7b overexpression inhibits in HCC cells proliferation. In conclusion, down-regulated let-7b promotes HCC cell proliferation through Wnt/β-catenin signaling in HCC cells. These results suggested that appropriate manipulation of let-7b might be a new treatment of human HCC in the future. Keywords: Let-7b, Wnt/β-catenin signaling, Cell proliferation