Hypoxia-inducible MiR-182 promotes angiogenesis by targeting RASA1 in hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND: Hypoxia is a common feature of solid tumors, including HCC. And hypoxia has been reported to play an important role in HCC progression. However, the potential mechanism of miRNAs in hypoxia mediating HCC progression still remains unclear. METHODS: The HCC cells were cultured in the atmosphere of 1 % oxygen to induce hypoxia. The microRNA microarray was employed to search for the hypoxia-inducible miRNAs. RT-PCR, western blot and immunohistochemistry were used to detect the RNA and protein levels. HUVEC were applied to explore the angiogenesis level. RESULTS: We found that miR-182 was upregulated in the hypoxia-based microarray. We then revealed that miR-182 was also significantly increased in the HCC tissues compared to the corresponding normal tissues. In vitro capilliary tube formation assays showed that the miR-182 promoted angiogenesis. RASA1 was demonstrated as the direct target of miR-182. In addition, the suppression of RASA1 phenocopied the pro-angiogenesis effects of miR-182. Besides, RASA1 was also decreased in the hypoxia HCC cells while the inhibition of miR-182 partially restored the level of RASA1. CONCLUSIONS: Our data showed that hypoxia regulated the expression of miR-182 and RASA1 to promote HCC angiogenesis. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13046-015-0182-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.