Abstract: Objective To investigate the influence of miR-363 on the proliferation and apoptosis of HepG2 cells by targeting E2F3 in vitro. Methods The HepG2 cells was cultured and transfected with miR-373 inhibitors or negative control（NC） by Lipofectamine liposome method. At 48 h,MTT method and flow cytometry were used to detect the cell proliferation and apoptosis respectively. The miR-363 mRNA in HepG2 cells was detected by RT-PCR and the E2F3,BAX and caspase-3 proteins in HepG2 cells were detected by Western blot. Results The proliferation rate of HepG2 cells in the control group was（96.4±9.7）%,significantly higher than [（72.3±6.5）%,P<0.05] in the inhibitor-intervened group,while the apoptosis rate was （8.2±1.4）%,significantly lower than[（9.7±0.8）%,P<0.05] in the inhibitor-intervened group;the relative miR-363 mRNA level was（1.0±0.1）,significantly higher than [（0.6±0.2）,P<0.05] in the inhibitor-intervened group;the expression of E2F3 protein was （1.0±0.1）,significantly higher than[（0.6±0.1）,P<0.05],while the expression of Bax and caspase-3 protein were（0.4±0.0） and（0.5±0.1）,significantly lower than [（0.6±0.1） and（0.7±0.0）,respectively,P<0.05] in the inhibitor-intervened group. Conclusion The miR-363 can inhibit the proliferation,and induce the apoptosis of HepG2 cells by targeting E2F3,which provides a theoretical basis for targeted therapy of liver cancer.

Key words: HepG2 cells, miR-363, E2F transcription factor, Proliferation, Apoptosis