MicroRNA 424-5p promotes the sensitivity of hepatocellular carcinoma cells to sorafenib by targeting Kinesin family member 23

Abstract

Objective: To explore the effect of MicroRNA 424-5p/Kinesin family member 23(miR-424-5p/KIF23)axis on the malignant phenotype of hepatoma cells and its sensitivity of sorafenib. Methods: Real-time quantitative reverse PCR(qRT-PCR) and/or Western blot were used to detect the expression of miR-424-5p and KIF23 in liver cancer tissues and paracancerous tissues, human hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) cells HepG2 and normal hepatocyte LO2. HepG2 cells transfected with miR-424-5p mimic and miR-424-5p mimic NC were respectively defined as miR-424-5p mimic group and mimic NC group, HepG2 cells transfected with KIF23 overexpression vector pcDNA3.1-KIF23 or empty vector pcDNA3.1 respectively were defined as OE-KIF23 group and Vector group, and HepG2 cells co-transfected with miR-424-5p mimic and overexpression vector pcDNA3.1-KIF23 were defined as mimic+OE-KIF23 group: The KIF23-3'UTR wild-type vector (KIF23-WT) and the mutant vector (KIF23-MT) were co-transfected with miR-424-5p micic and mimic NC, respectively, and the targeting relationship between miR-424-5p and KIF23 was verified by dual-luciferase reporting experiments. The cell counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) was used to detect HepG2 cell proliferation and sensitivity to sorafenib. Flow cytometry was used to assess apoptosis in HepG2 cells. Transwell and scratch experiments were used to detect HepG2 cell migration and invasion capabilities. Intergroup data were compared using t-tests or analysis of variance. Results: Compared with the paracancerous tissue and normal hepatocytes, miR-424-5p in the HCC tissue and hepatocellular cells was significantly down-regulated (the relative expression was 0.604±0.121, 0.585±0.064), and KIF23 was significantly up-regulated (the relative expression was 5.451±1.834, 2.482±0.545), P<0.05. miR-424-5p mimic can inhibit the proliferation, migration and invasion of HCC cells and promote apoptosis of HCC cells (P<0.05). Overexpression of KIF23 can promote the proliferation, migration and invasion of HCC cells and inhibit apoptosis of HCC cells (P<0.05). The luciferase activity of HepG2 cells in the mimic and KIF23-WT co-transfection groups was significantly reduced compared with HepG2 cells in the mimic NC and KIF23-WT co-transfection groups (the relative fluorescence intensities were 3.668±0.091 and 2.629±0.056, respectively, P<0.05),however, there was no significant comparison between the luciferase activity of cells in the mimic and KIF23-MT co-transfection groups compared with those in the mimic NC and KIF23-MT co-transfection groups. miR-424-5p mimic can reverse the role of overexpression of KIF23 in promoting the ability of HCC cells to proliferate, migrate and invade (P<0.05). The inhibition rates of sorafenib on HepG2 cells in the mimic+OE-KIF23 group and the OE-KIF23 group were 47.491%±3.863% and 36.246%±6.063% (t=3.027, P<0.05). Conclusion: miR-424-5p can inhibit the proliferation, migration and invasion of HCC cells and can increase the sensitivity of HCC cells to sorafenib by targeting the expression level of KIF23.