MicroRNA-519d targets MKi67 and suppresses cell growth in the hepatocellular carcinoma cell line QGY-7703.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that regulate the translation of target mRNA transcripts. In this study, we demonstrated that miR-519d was downregulated in human HCC and could suppress growth of the human HCC cell line QGY-7703. Bioinformatics analysis indicated that MKi67 was a putative target of miR-519d. In an EGFP reporter system, we confirmed that MKi67 was a direct target gene of miR-519d. Furthermore, knockdown of MKi67 inhibited QGY-7703 cell growth. These findings indicate that miR-519d targets the MKi67 transcript and suppresses HCC cell growth, suggesting that miR-519d has a tumor suppressive role in human HCC pathogenesis.