Integrated miRNA and mRNA omics reveal the anti-cancerous mechanism of Licochalcone B on Human Hepatoma Cell HepG2

Abstract

To unravel the potential of Licochalcone B as an anti-tumour phytochemical agent and evaluate its underlying mechanisms, we analyzed the mRNAs and miRNAs expression profiles of HepG2 cells in response to Licochalcone B (120 μM). mRNA and miRNA expression libraries were conducted and functional analysis for differential expression mRNAs was carried out utilizing Clue GO. We found 763 Licochalcone B -responsive differently expressed genes, among them, 572 mRNAs were up-regulated and 191 mRNAs were down-regulated, many of which were related to the MAPK signaling pathway. A protein-protein interaction network was constructed to discover the hub genes, and IL6, FOS, JUN, NOTCH1, UBC, UBB, CXCL8, CDKN1A, IL1B, ATF3, and GATA3 genes were screened out. Additionally, miRNAs engaged in Licochalcone B -mediated regulation on HepG2 cells were also studied. 85 differential expression miRNAs were identified, including 39 up-regulated miRNAs and 46 down-regulated miRNAs. Co-expression of miRNA-mRNA network was created and two key miRNAs (hsa-miR-29b-3p and hsa-miR-96-5p) were identified. These recognized key genes, miRNA, and the miRNA-mRNA regulatory network may provide clues to understand the molecular mechanism of Licochalcone B as an apoptotic inducer which may offer hint for its application as a functional food component.