MiR-93-5p Promotes Cell Proliferation through Down-Regulating PPARGC1A in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells by Bioinformatics Analysis and Experimental Verification

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator-1 alpha (PPARGC1A, formerly known as PGC-1a) is a transcriptional coactivator and metabolic regulator. Previous studies are mainly focused on the association between PPARGC1A and hepatoma. However, the regulatory mechanism remains unknown. A microRNA associated with cancer (oncomiR), miR-93-5p, has recently been found to play an essential role in tumorigenesis and progression of various carcinomas, including liver cancer. Therefore, this paper aims to explore the regulatory mechanism underlying these two proteins in hepatoma cells. Firstly, an integrative analysis was performed with miRNA-mRNA modules on microarray and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data and obtained the core regulatory network and miR-93-5p/PPARGC1A pair. Then, a series of experiments were conducted in hepatoma cells with the results including miR-93-5p upregulated and promoted cell proliferation. Thirdly, the inverse correlation between miR-93-5p and PPARGC1A expression was validated. Finally, we inferred that miR-93-5p plays an essential role in inhibiting PPARGC1A expression by directly targeting the 3'-untranslated region (UTR) of its mRNA. In conclusion, these results suggested that miR-93-5p overexpression contributes to hepatoma development by inhibiting PPARGC1A. It is anticipated to be a promising therapeutic strategy for patients with liver cancer in the future.