RETRACTED: MicroRNA-744 inhibits migration and invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma cells by targeting SOX12 (Retracted article. See vol. 48, 2022)

MicroRNA-744 (miR-744) reportedly plays an oncogenic or tumor-suppressive role in different human malignancies. Although a previous study demonstrated that miR-744 significantly inhibits hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) proliferation in vitro, the role of miR-744 in the migration and invasion of HCC cells remains largely unknown. The present study investigated the significance of miR-744 in HCC tissues and cell lines and evaluated its role and underlying mechanism of action in HCC cells. miR-744 expression was detected in HCC tissues and cell lines by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). The effect of miR-744 on cell proliferation, migration and invasion was determined using Cell Counting Kit-8, wound-healing and Matrigel invasion assays, respectively. Targeting gene of miR-744 in HCC cells was determined by luciferase reporter assay, RT-qPCR and western blotting. It was revealed that miR-744 was poorly expressed in HCC tissues compared with adjacent normal tissues (P<0.05), and that decreased miR-744 levels were significantly associated with the tumor node metastasis stage and lymph node metastasis. Additionally, restoration of miR-744 in HCC cells significantly suppressed their proliferation, migration, and invasion. Furthermore, sex determining region Y-box 12 (SOX12) was identified as a functional target of miR-744 in HCC cells, and its expression was demonstrated to be upregulated in HCC tissues and inversely correlated with the expression of miR-744. Notably, overexpression of SOX12 antagonized the suppressive effect of miR-744 on HCC cell migration and invasion. These findings suggested that miR-744 inhibited migration and invasion by targeting SOX12, and that it may represent a therapeutic target for the treatment of metastatic HCC.