miR-541 potentiates the response of human hepatocellular carcinoma to sorafenib treatment by inhibiting autophagy

What is it about?

Autophagy participates in the progression of cancer and the resistance of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) to sorafenib. Here we reported that miR-541 was donwregulated in human HCC tissues and associated with HCC recurrence and patient survival. miR-541 inhibited the malignant properties and autophagy of HCC cells both in vitro and in vivo by downregulating two autophagy-associated genes, ATG2A and RAB1B, which serve as oncogenes and negative modulators of autophagy in HCC. More interestingly, patients with higher miR-541 expression benefited from sorafenib treatment, and overexpressing miR-541 potentiates the sensitivity of sorafenib to HCC cells both in vitro and in vivo. These results highlight the importance of miR-541-ATG2A/RAB1B axis in patients’ responses to sorafenib treatment and HCC progression.

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