hMex-3A is associated with poor prognosis and contributes to the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma

Background: HMex-3A, an RNA-binding protein, was found to be associated with tumorigenesis. However, the roles of h Mex-3A in hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) progression remained unclear. Methods: The different expression of h Mex-3A between HCC tissues and non-tumor tissues was evaluated using The Cancer Genome Atlas database. Thereafter, the h Mex-3A expression was evaluated in HCC tissues using Western blotting and q RT-PCR. Immunohistochemistry was performed to investigate the association between h Mex-3 A level and clinicopathological features including prognosis in HCC patients. In addition, we used si-h Mex-3A to knockdown h Mex-3A in HCC cells to test Cell Counting Kit-8, colony formation, cell migration and invasion. Results: The h Mex-3A expression was significantly elevated in HCC tissues. Analysis of the clinicopathological parameters suggested that h Mex-3A expression was significantly associated with pathological grade( P = 0.019) and TNM stage( P = 0.001) in HCC. Moreover, univariate and multivariate Coxregression analyses revealed that high h Mex-3A expression(HR = 1.491, 95% CI: 1.107–2.007; P = 0.009) was an independent risk factor for overall survival in HCC patients. Finally, we confirmed that si-h Mex-3A could significantly inhibit HCC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in vitro. Conclusions: HMex-3A may contribute to the progression of HCC and might be used as a novel therapeutic target and prognostic marker in HCC.