MicroRNA-144 inhibits cell proliferation, migration and invasion in human hepatocellular carcinoma by targeting CCNB1

BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies with a high morbidity and mortality worldwide. MicroRNAs are key regulators of HCC genesis. However, the regulatory role and underlying mechanisms of microRNA in HCC is still limited. METHODS: Cyclin B1 (CCNB1) mRNA levels were examined in non-tumor and liver cancer of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) cohort. CCNB1 was knockdown to evaluate the HCC cell proliferation, migration and invasion. MicroRNA-144 targeting CCNB1 was identified with TargetScan analysis and confirmed with reporter assay. Overexpression of MicroRNA-144 was achieved using microRNA mimics and function of microRNA-144 was tested in vitro HCC cell line proliferation and in vivo tumor formation experiments. RESULTS: Here, we found that the high level expression of CCNB1 was closely associated with poor prognosis in HCC patients. Knockdown of CCNB1 by RNA interference significantly inhibited cell proliferation, migration and invasion in HCC. Furthermore, we found that miR-144 directly targeted CCNB1 and inhibited CCNB1 expression. Moreover, in vivo experiments of subcutaneous tumor formation further demonstrated that miR-144 delayed tumor formation by negative regulation of CCNB1. CONCLUSION: Therefore, we conclude that microRNA-144/CCNB1 axis plays an important role in human HCC. Therapies targeting microRNA-144 could potentially improve HCC treatment. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12935-019-0729-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.