miR-1285-3p acts as a potential tumor suppressor miRNA via downregulating JUN expression in hepatocellular carcinoma.

In the world, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common and most lethal cancers. Currently, standard therapy for unresectable HCC is a local-regional therapy with transarterial chemoembolisation (TACE). In this study, we sought to assess whether plasma circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) can be used to predict the prognosis of HCC patients receiving the TACE treatment. Firstly, we systematically examined TACE therapeutic effectiveness-related circulating miRNAs through miRNA Profiling Chips. As a result, we identified 19 circulating miRNAs to be significantly differentially expressed between the TACE-response group and the TACE-nonresponse group. In the second stage, we performed quantitative analyses of these candidate miRNAs in additional HCC patients treated with TACE and validated two of the aforementioned 19 miRNAs (miR-1285-3p and miR-4741) as candidate biomarkers for predicting prognosis of TACE. Interestingly, we found that miR-1285-3p could directly repress JUN oncogene expression in HCC cells, indicating miR-1285-3p could act as a potential tumor suppressor. In conclusion, our data indicate that circulating miR-1285-3p and miR-4741 was predictive of response to TACE therapy in HCC.