lncRNA ZNF667-AS1 suppresses hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma by regulating miR-210-3p to upregulate CPEB2.

Authors

Huimin Cong, Guobing Zhu, Yingzhou Xu, Linlin Wu, Hongfang Gu, Chunyan Dai

Published in

Virology journal. Volume 23. Issue 1. Jul 28, 2026. Epub Jul 28, 2026.

Abstract

To explore the biological functions, clinical significance, and regulatory mechanism of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) ZNF667-AS1 in hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
One hundred and seven patients with HBV-related HCC, one hundred and five patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and one hundred and five healthy controls were enrolled in this study. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was used to detect the expression levels of ZNF667-AS1, miR-210-3p, CPEB2. The association between ZNF667-AS1 expression and clinical characteristics of patients were analyzed, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to evaluate its diagnostic value. Bioinformatics prediction and dual-luciferase reporter assays were conducted to verify the targeted associations between ZNF667-AS1 and miR-210-3p, as well as between miR-210-3p and CPEB2. Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) and Transwell assays were applied to assess the biological functions of HCC cells after cell transfection.
The expression levels of ZNF667-AS1 and CPEB2 were significantly downregulated in tissue samples from patients with HBV-related HCC and in HBV-associated HCC cell lines. ROC curve analysis showed the area under the curve (AUC) of ZNF667-AS1 for diagnosing HBV-related HCC from CHB reached 0.841. miR-210-3p was validated as a direct target of ZNF667-AS1, and a significant negative correlation was observed between their expression levels. Overexpression of ZNF667-AS1 inhibited the proliferation, migration, and invasion of HCC cells, whereas this inhibitory effect was reversed by transfection with miR-210-3p mimic.
LncRNA ZNF667-AS1 is downregulated in HBV-related HCC and exerts in vitro tumor‑suppressive effects by targeting miR-210-3p to upregulate CPEB2 expression, thus providing a potential auxiliary biomarker for HBV-related HCC diagnosis and a novel regulatory axis for understanding disease pathogenesis.

PMID:
42919296
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 24 Oct 2026.

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