Integrated mRNA-Seq and miRNA-Seq analysis of PLCγ2-overexpressing hepatocarcinoma cells and identification of the associated miRNA-mRNA network.

Our previous study has discovered the positive effect of phospholipase Cγ 2 (PLCγ2) on the growth of hepatocarcinoma cells; however, the underlying mechanism is far from being understood. For this reason, this study attempts to identify the differently expressed microRNAs (miRNAs) and messenger RNAs (mRNAs) in PLCγ2-overexpressing hepatocarcinoma cells. The results showed that totally 596 differently-expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in PLCγ2-expressed cells, including 314 upregulated and 282 downregulated ones; according to gene ontology analysis, these DEGs were involved in different cellular processes. Concurrently, 34 differently-expressed miRNAs (DEMs) were also detected in PLCγ2-expressing hepatocarcinoma cells. Moreover, the integrative analysis of miRNA and mRNA expression profiles identified the potential regulatory network linked to hepatocarcinoma-related biological processes, including metabolic activity, gene expression, cell cycle, cell migration, and so on. To our knowledge, it is the first study on the effect of PLCγ2 on miRNA and mRNA expressions in hepatocarcinoma cells, and the findings provide new insights into the mechanism supporting the growth-promoting effect of PLCγ2 in hepatocarcinoma cells.