MiR‐559 targets GP73 to suppress proliferation and invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma in vitro

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the common malignant tumors with poor overall prognosis. As a tumor suppressor, the function of miR‐559 in HCC is not clear. In this study, quantitative real‐time PCR was carried out to measure the expression of miR‐559 in HCC cell lines. The effects of miR‐559 on HCC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion were evaluated through a series of functional assays. The mechanism through which miR‐559 regulates HCC cells was investigated by dual‐luciferase reporter assay and functional experiments. The results revealed that miR‐559 expression was low in HCC cell lines. Upregulation of miR‐559 suppressed HCC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. Dual‐luciferase reporter assay confirmed Golgi membrane protein 73 (GP73) as a target gene of miR‐559. Moreover, miR‐559 could negatively regulate GP73 expression in HCC cells. These results demonstrated that low‐level expression of miR‐559 was associated with HCC, and overexpression of miR‐559 could inhibit HCC cell growth and invasion via targeting GP73.