MicroRNA-34a in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Amira Abdelhamid, assistant lecturer, German University in Cairo, discusses microRNA-34a and natural killer (NK) cells in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

A recent study suggests that microRNA-34a could have a role in regulating cytotoxicity and development of the effector NK cells.

MicroRNA-34a has been previously found to be downregulated in HCC—which is also associated with tumor progression—but it has never been explored in the NK cells of patients with HCC, says Abdelhamid.

Results showed that in the NK cells of patients with HCC, forcing microRNA34a expression significantly increased NKG2D and cytotoxic perforin-1 mRNA levels.

Clinical trials have begun to investigate whether microRNA-34a can be used as a tumor suppressor, Abdelhamid adds.