Table 4. Dysregulated miRNAs, their functions, and possible molecular targets in hepatocellular carcinoma.

MicroRNA(s)	Role	Molecular target(s)	Biological function(s)	Reference(s)
let-7 family	Tumor suppressor	RAS, HMGA2, Collagen type 1 alpha2	Inhibit growth, migration, and proliferation	Johnson 2007[22], Lee 2007[76], Ji 2010[65]
miR-17-92 cluster	Oncogene	Bin, PTEN, CTGF, Tsp1, E2F1/2/3	Increase growth, proliferation, and angiogenesis; decrease apoptosis	Olive 2010[73]
miR-18a	Oncogene	Estrogen Receptor α	Increase proliferation; block protective effect of estrogen	Liu 2009[75]
miR-21	Oncogene	PTEN	Increase proliferation, migration, and invasion	Buscaglia 2011[66]
miR-122	Tumor suppressor	Cyclin G1, Bcl-w	Increase apoptosis; inhibit growth	Gramantieri 2007[63], Lin 2008[78]
miR-199a/a*	Tumor suppressor	MET, ERK2, mTOR, CD44	Inhibit proliferation, migration, and invasion	Kim 2008[79], Henry 2010[80], Fornari 2008[81]
miR-221/222	Oncogene	p27Kip1,CDKN1C/p57, DDIT4/mT0R, PPP2R2A/Akt	Increase growth and proliferation	Ie Sage 2007[70], Fornari 2008[81]