MicroRNA-24 (miR-24), a member of the miRNA family, functions as an oncogene in various types of human cancer. However, the underlying mechanisms of miR-24 involvement in the development and progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain poorly understood. The present study revealed that miRNA-24 down-regulates p53 through binding to the 3'-UTR of p53 mRNA based on a luciferase reporter assay, and that the expression level of miR-24 could affect the invasion of HCC lines via p53. Down-regulation of p53 significantly attenuated the inhibitory effects of miR-24 knockdown on the invasion of HCC cells, suggesting that miR-24 could be a potential target for HCC treatment. Moreover, our results revealed that miR-24 expression was significantly increased in HCC metastatic tumor tissues compared with matched non-metastatic tumor tissues, and that the up-regulation of miR-24 was significantly associated with down-regulation of p53 in the HCC tissues. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that miR-24 functions as an oncogene in HCC, at least partly by promoting cell invasion through down-regulation of p53. Therefore, miR-24 may be a potential therapeutic target for treatment of HCC.
Keywords: Hepatocellular carcinoma; Invasion; miR-24; p53.
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