MicroRNA-421 mediates immunosensitivity in late-stage human liver cancer.

This report showed the novel clinical evidence to evaluate the pathological predisposition of microRNA-421 (miR-421) on immuno-insufficiency to cancer progression of human hepatocellular carcinoma. Some hospitalized patients with liver cancer were recruited when they were diagnosed by clinical parameters. As expected, all patients were subjected to routine biochemical analysis and histocytological inspection prior to receiving medical treatment. Clinical findings suggested that basal parameters of plasmatic aminotransferases and hepatitis B e antibody (HBeAb), alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) were elevated significantly. Further, immune cells and T lymphocytes in peripheral blood were abnormally altered in a time-dependent manner. More specifically, endogenous expressions of miR-421 level in liver cancer, immune-specific glycoprotein CD4 and CD8 were increased when compared to nontumor control. Furthermore, intracellular immunocytochemical staining showed that proliferative marker of Ki-67, metastasized marker of CK19, as well as phenotypic markers of hepatocellular carcinoma for HBeAb and AFP were positively expressions with disseminated distribution. To sum up, these biochemical data and histopathological evidences demonstrate that miR-421-mediated immune hypersensitivity may function as a promising indicator for advanced liver cancer, even in further metastasis. Therefore, inhibition of intracellular miR-421 expression is an effective strategy for management of terminal hepatocellular carcinoma.