Abstract
Objective: To investigate the effect of miR-23b on the malignant phenotype and the sensitivity of lenvatinib in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells. Methods: Human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line HepG2, SMMC-7721 and QGY-7703 were transfected with miR-23b mimic and its control, respectively. CCK-8 and EdU assay were used to detect cell proliferation. Transwell assay were used to detect changes in cell migration and invasion. Tube formation assay were used to detect vasculogenic mimicry formation. The comparison of the mean between groups was analyzed by t-test. Results: CCK-8 results showed that the A values of human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line HepG2 and SMMC-7721 in the miR-23b mimic group were 0.325 ± 0.011 and 0.537 ± 0.026, respectively, which were significantly lower than the control group 0.430±0.017 and 0.752 ± 0.051 (P < 0.05). Transwell assay result showed that the number of cell migration of human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line HepG2 and SMMC-7721 in the miR-23b mimic group was (517.220 ± 32.873) and (242.327 ± 20.793), respectively, which were significantly lower than that of the control group (724.130 ± 15.142) and (424.432 ± 27.212) (P < 0.01). Simultaneously, the number of cell invasions in the miR-23b mimic group were (55.671 ± 7.514) and (64.670 ± 6.011), respectively, which were significantly lower than those in the control group (124.320 ± 11.782) and (156.204 ± 12.501) (P < 0.01). Tube formation assay showed that the number of tube forming branches of hepatocellular carcinoma cell line QGY-7703 and SMMC-7721 in the miR-23b mimic group was (489.824 ± 42.035) and (435.201 ± 44.143), respectively, which were significantly lower than that of the control group (878.620 ± 31.618) and (785.430 ± 38.723) (P < 0.01). In addition, EdU results showed that after miR-23b combined with lenvatinib, the positive rates of EdU staining of hepatocellular carcinoma cell line HepG2 and SMMC-7721 in the miR-23b mimic group were (32.905 ± 1.342)% and (24.811 ± 0.820)%, respectively, which were significantly lower than the control group (52.623 ± 2.441)% and (38.702 ± 1.312)% (P < 0.05). Conclusion: miR-23b can inhibit the proliferation, migration, invasion and vasculogenic mimicry formation, and enhance the sensitivity of lenvatinib drug in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells.