MicroRNA-1207-5p inhibits hepatocellular carcinoma cell growth and invasion through the fatty acid synthase-mediated Akt/mTOR signalling pathway

Fatty acid synthase (FASN) has emerged as a unique oncologic target for the treatment of cancers, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, effective inhibitors of FASN for cancer treatment are lacking. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as novel and endogenic inhibitors of gene expression. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the role of miR-1207-5p in HCC and the regulation of FASN through miR-1207-5p. The expression of miR-1207-5p was markedly reduced in HCC tissues and cell lines as detected with real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Overexpression of miR-1207-5p significantly suppressed the cell growth and invasion of HCC cells. By contrast, inhibition of miR-1207-5p exhibited an opposite effect. Bioinformatics analysis showed that FASN is a predicted target of miR-1207-5p which was validated by dual-luciferase reporter assay, qPCR and western blot analysis. Overexpression of miR-1207-5p inhibited the Akt/mTOR signalling pathway, and promotion of this pathway was noted following inhibition of miR-1207-5p. Rescue experiments showed that the restoration of FASN expression partially reversed the inhibitory effect of miR-1207-5p on cell growth, invasion and Akt phosphorylation. In conclusion, our study suggests that miR-1207-5p/FASN plays an important role in HCC, and provides novel insight into developing new inhibitors for FASN for therapeutic interventions for HCC.