MiR-129-2 weakens proliferation and promotes apoptosis of liver cancer cells by suppressing the Wnt signaling pathway

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effects of micro ribonucleic acid-129-2 (miR-129-2) on proliferation and migration of liver cancer cells and its possible mechanism. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The expression level of miR-129-2 was measured in liver cancer tissues and adjacent tissues from patients with liver cancer. Its level in liver cancer HepG2 cells and normal liver cells L-02 was also detected via quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). MiR-192-2 overexpression model was established in the HepG2 cell line. The proliferation and apoptosis levels of cells were determined by methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay and flow cytometry, respectively. Wound healing assay was performed to detect the migration ability of cells. The expressions level of genes in the Wnt signaling pathway were measured through Western blotting. Xenograft tumor model was conducted in nude mice for exploring the in vivo effects of miR-129-2 on liver cancer growth. RESULTS: The expression level of miR-129-2 was significantly lower in liver cancer tissues than that in adjacent tissues (p<0.01), and it was overtly lower in HepG2 cells than that in L-02 cells (p<0.01). Overexpression of miR-129-2 weakened proliferation and migration abilities of liver cancer cells (p<0.01), and evidently increased apoptosis level (p<0.01). Sex-determining region Y-related HMG-box 4 (Sox4) and matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) were downregulated, while phosphorylated glycogen synthase kinase-3s (p-GSK3s) was upregulated in liver cancer cells overexpressing miR-129-2. Besides, the weight and volume of tumors in nude mice bearing liver cancer were significantly smaller after overexpression of miR-129-2. CONCLUSIONS: MiR-129-2 weakens proliferation and migration and stimulates apoptosis in liver cancer cells mainly by downregulating Sox4 and inactivating the Wnt signaling pathway.