miR‐6844/HSD17B13 Axis Contributes the Malignant Phenotype of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells

ABSTRACT Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a prevalent form of primary liver cancer, and aberrant miRNAs expression significantly contributes to its progression. Although the abnormal expression of miR‐6844 in HCC has been reported, its impact on the malignant phenotype of HCC cells and its potential mechanism remains unclear. In this study, we initially conducted a bioinformatics analysis to investigate the differential expression of miR‐6844 in HCC tissues and its impact on patient prognosis. The association between miR‐6844 expression levels and clinical characteristics of HCC patients was subsequently investigated by integrating data from clinical samples. Ultimately, the impact of miR‐6844 on the malignant phenotype of HCC cells and the underlying mechanisms were examined through in vitro cellular experiments. The results showed that a high expression of miR‐6844 in HCC, which was associated with poor prognosis and exhibited significant correlations with intrahepatic metastasis and clinical stage among patients. The upregulation of miR‐6844 promoted the proliferation, migration, and invasion of HCC cells while suppressing apoptosis. Conversely, the downregulation of miR‐6844 significantly attenuated the malignant phenotype of HCC cells. In addition, HSD17B13 was identified as a target gene of miR‐6844, and the overexpression of HSD17B13 partially counteracted the oncogenic effects induced by miR‐6844 in HCC cells, otherwise the opposite. Taken together, the above results suggest that miR‐6844 plays a regulatory role in the malignant phenotype of HCC cells through its targeting of HSD17B13.