Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 25, 2026

In Vitro Cultivation Techniques for Modeling Liver Organogenesis, Building Assembloids, and Designing Synthetic Tissues using Human Cell Lines
Published on: April 18, 2025
miR-218 modulate hepatocellular carcinoma cell proliferation through PTEN/AKT/PI3K pathway and HoxA10
Zhong-Di Xiao1, Chun-Yu Jiao2, Hai-Tao Huang2
1Department of Hepatic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University Harbin 150001, China ; Department of General Surgery, Daqing Group Oilfield General Hospital Daqing 163001, China.
Purpose:
To investigate the regulatory mechanism of miR-218 in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
Methods:
qPCR was used to compare the expression levels miR-218 among six hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines and normal liver tissues. After transfecting MHCC97L cells with either miR-218 mimics or miR-218 inhibitor, western blotting was used to examine the expressing patterns of cyclinD1, p21, and PTEN/AKT/PI3K signaling pathway-related proteins. MTT and colony forming assay was used to assess the capability of cell proliferation. Bioinformatic method was applied to predict the binding of miR-218 on HoxA10, and western blotting was used to examine the modulatory effect of miR-218 AND HoxA10 on PTEN/AKT/PI3K pathway in HCC.
Results:
The expression levels of miR-218 were frequently lower in HCC cell lines than in normal liver tissues. Over-expression of miR-218 in HCC cells significantly decreased cell proliferation whereas inhibiting miR-218 promoted cancer cell proliferation. Western blotting analysis demonstrated that tumorigenesis related protein cyclin D1 and p21, as well as PTEN/AKT/PI3K signaling pathways were actively modulated by miR-218 in HCC cells. The expression of endogenous HoxA10 was also down-regulated by miR-218 over-expression, and silencing HoxA10 directly activated PTEN in HCC cells.
Conclusion:
Modulation of miR-218 actively affected HCC cancer cell development. The regulatory mechanism of miR-218 in HCC cells was acting through PTEN/AKT/PI3K pathway and possibly associated with HoxA10.
Related Concept Videos
mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression
The mTOR pathway or the...
PI3K/mTOR/AKT Signaling Pathway
Abnormal Proliferation
Interactions Between Signaling Pathways
Convergence and divergence, and cross-talk between signaling pathways
Two distinct signaling pathways can converge on a single functional unit, which may either be a single protein or a complex of proteins. The response is either functionally distinct or synergistic between the two pathways but different from the response...
MicroRNAs
Hedgehog Signaling Pathway

