In addition, our findings suggest that ADAR1 adopts the cyclin G1 and p53 proteins as downstream molecules of miR122 to reduce the HBV RNA levels. As expected, the ADAR1- and miR-122 mimic transfectants showed decreased cyclin G1 expression with concomitant up-regulation of the p53 protein (Fig. 6A).
We also observed that cyclin G(1) expression was up-regulated in HBV-infected patients, and cyclin G(1) levels were inversely associated with miR-122 expression in liver tissues.
We listed the cellular functions of these relevant miRNAs in liver disease and their biological properties associated with HBV or HBV-related HCC in Table 1. We also summarized the known changes of miRNAs involved in multiple steps of chronic hepatitis B, from hepatitis to cirrhosis and finally to HCC (Fig. 3).