Abstract:  Objective To investigate the expression of circular RNA hsa_circ_0000591 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues and liver cancer cell lines, and its effect on the proliferation and migration of liver cancer cells. Methods A total of 84 cases of HCC tissues and corresponding normal adjacent liver tissues between 2014 and 2018 were collected from Guangxi Medical University Cancer Hospital. The expression of hsa_circ_0000591 was detected by qRT-PCR, and its relationship with the prognosis was analyzed. The silenced hsa_circ_0000591 lentivirus and the negative control lentivirus were used to infect Hep3B cells, which were recorded as the siRNA group and the NC group, respectively. The cell proliferation ability was detected by CCK-8 assay and plate cloning assay; the cell migration ability was detected by scratch test; the invasion and migration ability was detected by Transwell test. Results The results of qRT-PCR showed that the expression of hsa_circ_0000591 in HCC tissues was higher than that in adjacent tissues (P<0.001), the expression of hsa_circ_0000591 in liver cancer cell lines Li-7, HepG2, Hep3B and Huh7 and human normal liver cell lines HL-7702 was statistically significant (P<0.05), and the expression of Hep3B was higher than that of other liver cancer cell lines and normal liver cell line HL-7702 (all P<0.05). Compared with the NC group, the expression of hsa_circ_0000591 in Hep3B cells was decreased after silencing hsa_circ_0000591 (P<0.05), and the ability of proliferation, migration and invasion were significantly reduced (P<0.05). Conclusions The expression of hsa_circ_0000591 is up-regulated in liver cancer. Silencing hsa_circ_0000591 can inhibit the proliferation and migration of liver cancer cells. hsa_circ_0000591 may be a potential molecular target for liver cancer.

Key words: Liver Cancer, Hepatocellular carcinoma, Circular RNA, Hsa_circ_0000591, Proliferation, Migration