miR-296-5p suppresses stem cell potency of hepatocellular carcinoma cells via regulating Brg1/Sall4 axis.

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a pivotal event during cancer progression such as relapse and metastasis, is positively correlated with the stemness potency of tumor cells. Our previous study showed that miR-296-5p attenuated EMT program of hepatocellular carcinoma cells (HCC) through NRG1/ERBB2/ERBB3 signaling. In the present study, we uncovered that miR-296-5p was able to inhibit the stemness potency of HCC by decreasing the number and size of tumorspheres, downregulating the expression of CSC biomarkers and hampering the ability of tumorigenesis in NOD/SCID mice.

miR-296-5p suppresses EMT of hepatocellular carcinoma via attenuating NRG1/ERBB2/ERBB3 signaling.

Background: Accumulation of evidence indicates that miRNAs have crucial roles in the regulation of EMT-associated properties, such as proliferation, migration and invasion. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms are not entirely illustrated. Here, we investigated the role of miR-296-5p in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression.