miR-361-5p inhibits hepatocellular carcinoma cell proliferation and invasion by targeting VEGFA.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play important roles in the pathogenesis of many types of cancers by negatively regulating gene expression at posttranscriptional level. Here, we found that miR-361-5p is down-regulated in 135 patients with HCV-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Moreover, the expressions of miR-361-5p were highly correlated with VEGFA in these HCC patients. Further, CCK-8 proliferation assay indicated that miR-361-5p mimics inhibited the cell proliferation of HepG2 and SNU-398 HCC cells. Transwell assay showed that miR-361-5p mimics inhibited the invasion and migration of HepG2 and SNU-398 HCC cells. Luciferase assays revealed that miR-361-5p directly bound to the 3'untranslated region of VEGFA, and western blotting showed that miR-361-5p inhibited the expression of VEGFA. Generally, this study indicated that miR-361-5p is down-regulated in HCC and inhibits proliferation and invasion of HCC cell lines via VEGFA. In future, miR-361-5p will be a potential therapeutic agent for HCC.