MiR-21 promoted proliferation and migration in hepatocellular carcinoma through negative regulation of Navigator-3.

MicroRNA-21 (miR-21) has been well-established and found to be over-expressed in various human cancers and has been associated with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression. However, the underlying mechanism of miR-21 involvement in the development and progression of HCC remains to be understood. In the present study, we firstly identified that the Navigator-3 (NAV-3) gene as a novel direct target of miR-21. Knock-down of NAV-3 using shRNA can rescue the effects of anti-miR-21 inhibitor in HCC cell lines, whereas re-expression of miR-21 using transfection with miR-21 mimics phenocopied the NAV-3 knock-down model. Additionally, miR-21 levels inversely correlated with NAV-3 both in HCC cells and tissues. Knock-down of NAV-3 promoted both the proliferation and migration in HCC cells. Together, our findings suggest an important role for miR-21 in the progression of HCC, which negatively regulated Navigator-3 in the migration of HCC.