Epigenetically silenced long noncoding-SRHC promotes proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma

To investigate the expression of SRHC and the role of SRHC in the pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We analyzed HCC samples and matched non-tumor liver tissues (controls) collected from 81 patients who underwent hepatectomy in Shanghai, China. The expression levels of SRHC were determined by quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. Statistical analyses were used to associate the levels of SRHC with tumor features and patient outcomes. We found that a lower SRHC expression level was significantly more frequent in tissues with a high serum a-fetoprotein level (positive, > 20 A mu g/L, P = 0.004) and a low degree of differentiated tumors (poorly differentiated, P = 0.017). Furthermore, we found that the promoter region of SRHC contains a CpG-rich island and that SRHC is down-regulated in tumors by DNA methylation. Here, we identified a new long noncoding RNA designated as SRHC that is capable of inhibiting cancer proliferation and is down-regulated in tumors at least partly by DNA methylation.