Small nucleolar RNA 47 promotes tumorigenesis by regulating EMT markers in hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is third leading cause of cancer-related death globally. Evidence suggest that small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) have emerged as key regulators of tumor development and progression in HCC. However, the biological significance of snoRNAs in HCC remains unclear.

METHODS: We investigated the role of snoRA47 in a total of 60 paired HCC samples and six different human HCC cell lines by using qRT-PCR. Besides, snoRA47 was silenced through the siRNA transfection to determine whether snoRA47-siRNA is able to affect cell proliferation, invasion and metastasis by regulating the expressions of "epithelial-mesenchymal transition'' (EMT) markers.

RESULTS: The expression of snoRA47 in HCC tissues was significantly higher than that in adjacent normal tissues (non-diseased tissues) and it was remarkably associated with intrahepatic metastasis, lymphatic invasion, and TNM stage. The Kaplan-Meier survival curves suggested that HCC patients with high snoRA47 expression experienced significantly shorter overall survival and statistically higher recurrence rate than those with low expression of snoRA47. In addition, it was proved that the knockdown of snoRA47 inhibited cell proliferation by inducing cell apoptosis and suppressed cell invasion and migration by regulating the expressions of EMT markers.

CONCLUSIONS: SnoRA47 may serve as a valuable biomarker and a potential therapeutic target for HCC.