Clinical significance of microRNA-449a in hepatocellular carcinoma with microarray data mining together with initial bioinformatics analysis

Increasing evidence has demonstrated that microRNA (miR)-449a expression is reduced in various types of tumors and that it serves as a tumor suppressor. However, the molecular mechanism of miR-449a in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has not been thoroughly elucidated and is disputed. Therefore, the aim of the present work was to systematically review the current literature and to utilize the public Gene Expression Omnibus database to determine the role of miR-449a and its significance in HCC. A total of eight original papers and seven microarrays were included in the present study. Based on the evidence, miR-449a was reduced in HCC. miR-449a is likely involved in various signaling pathways and is targeted to multiple mRNA as part of its function in HCC. In addition, a preliminary bioinformatic analysis was conducted for miR-449a to investigate the novel potential pathways that miR-449a may participate in regarding HCC.