MiRNA-99a directly regulates AGO2 through translational repression in hepatocellular carcinoma

The regulation network consisting of microRNAs (miRNAs) and their target genes remains largely elusive in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), especially the reciprocal loop between specific miRNAs and the miRNA processing machinery. In this study, we found that miR-99a was remarkably decreased in 111 of 152 (73.03%) primary HCC tissues and low-level expression of miR-99a was correlated with low tumor differentiation (P = 0.001), liver cirrhosis (P = 0.015), poor tumor-free survival (P = 0.004) and overall survival (P = 0.006) for HCC patients. By restoration of miR-99a, the HCC growth could be considerably inhibited both in vitro and in vivo. Subsequently, Argonaute-2 (Ago2), a central component of RNA-induced silencing complex, was found to be directly regulated by miR-99a via translational repression. Overexpression of Ago2 could partly impair the inhibitory effect of miR-99a on HCC cells in vitro. Then, we demonstrated that Ago2 was upregulated in HCC tissues at both RNA and protein levels and the expression of AGO2 protein and miR-99a was negatively correlated within detected HCC tissues (r = -0.727, P = 0.004). Interestingly, the tumorigenicity of Ago2-knockdown HCC cells was severely impaired (4/10 vs 10/10, P < 0.05), and this was in contrast to the miR-99a-overexpressing HCC cells. Functionally, the increased AGO2 protein could specifically facilitate oncogenic miR-21 to repress its targeted gene phosphatase and tensin homolog (Pten) in HCC, whereas leave the regulatory capacity of let-7a on its targeted oncogenes almost unaltered. In summary, our study has revealed a novel pathway for the tumor suppressor miR-99a to control tumor growth in HCC, via its downstream signaling of AGO2/miR-21/PTEN. In addition, this study provides potential strategies for HCC therapy by reintroduction of miRNA suppressors.