Emerging evidence indicates that dysregulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) contributes to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tumorigenesis and development. Here, we found that miR-615-5p was obviously downregulated in HCC. Furthermore, the deficiency of demethylase KDM4B stimulated the CpG methylation of miR-615-5p promoter and then decreased the miR-615-5p expression. The Ras-related protein RAB24 was found to be downregulated by miR-615-5p. The low level of miR-615-5p increased the expression of RAB24 and facilitated HCC growth and metastasis in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, miR-615-5p suppresses HCC cell growth by influencing cell cycle progression and apoptosis. Downregulation of miR-615-5p and upregulation of RAB24 promotes the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), adhesion and vasculogenic mimicry (VM) of HCC cells, all of which contribute to cell motility and metastasis. Thus, miR-615-5p, who is downregulated by KDM4B-mediated hypermethylation in its promoter, functions as a tumor suppressor by inhibiting RAB24 expression in HCC. In conclusion, our findings characterize miR-615-5p as an important epigenetically silenced miRNA involved in the Rab-Ras pathway in hepatocellular carcinoma and expand our understanding of the molecular mechanism underlying hepatocarcinogenesis and metastasis.
Keywords: DNA methylation; HCC; gene regulation; metastasis; miRNAs.