miR-576-5p regulates the EMT process to inhibit migration and invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma cells

Objective To investigate the effect of miR-576-5P on the migration and invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)cells by regulating epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process. Methods RT-qPCR was used to detect miR-576-5p expression level in HCC cells and normal liver cells, hepatocellular carcinoma tissues and paraneoplastic tissues from 27 patients who accepted hepatectomy from June 2020 to January 2021 in the Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery of the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University. MiR-576-5p mimics and mimics NC were transfected into hepG2 cells as the over-expression group(mimics group) and the control group(mimics NC group), and miR-576-5p inhibitor and inhibitor NC were transfected into SMMC-7721 cells as the de-expression group(inhibitor group) and the control group(inhibitor NC group). CCK-8 assay and EDU assay were used to detect the proliferative ability of cells. Transwell assay and wound healing assay were used to observe the changes of invasion and migration of cells in each group. The changes of expression level of E-cadherin, N-cadherin and snail in each group were detected by Western blotting. Results The expression of miR-576-5p in HCC tissues was significantly lower than that in matched adjacent tissues(P < 0.001), and the expression of miR-576-5p was lower in HCC cells than that of normal liver cells(P < 0.001). SMMC-7721 inhibitor group had enhanced proliferative capacity (P < 0.001, P < 0.001), significantly increased wound healing rate (P < 0.001) and significantly increased migration and invasive perforated cells (P < 0.001, P < 0.01), compared to the inhibited NC group. HepG2 mimics group had lower proliferative capacity(P < 0.01, P < 0.01), significantly lower wound healing rate(P < 0.01), and significantly fewer migration and invasive perforated cells than the mimics NC group(P < 0.001, P < 0.01). The hepG2 mimics group showed a obviously increase in the expression of E-cadherin and a decrease in the expression of N-cadherin and snail compared to the mimics NC group (P < 0.001, P < 0.05, P < 0.05), while the completely opposite changes occurred in the SMMC-7721 inhibitor groups (P < 0.05, P < 0.001, P < 0.01). Conclusion MiR-576-5p inhibits the proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma cells and prevents the EMT process to inhibit invasion and migration of cells