Background: Urea capsule is retained in esophagus during

ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of AU-rich element RNA-binding factor 1 （AUF1） on the proliferation， apoptosis， and migration abilities of hepatocellular carcinoma （HCC） cells and possible mechanisms， and to clarify the role and molecular mechanism of AUF1 in the progression of HCC. MethodsThe UALCAN and TCGA-HCC databases were used to analyze the expression of AUF1 in pan-cancer and investigate the association of the expression level of AUF1 with the clinicopathological features and prognosis of HCC patients. CCK-8 assay， cell apoptosis assay， and Transwell chamber assay were used to investigate the function of AUF1 at the cellular level， and RNA-seq assay was used to investigate transcriptome changes in HCC cells after AUF1 knockdown. The t-test was used for comparison of continuous data between two groups； the Kaplan-Meier method was used to plot survival curves， and the log-rank test was used for comparison of survival rates. ResultsThere were abnormal mRNA and protein expression levels of AUF1 in various tumor tissues compared with normal tissue （P<0.05）. The mRNA expression level of AUF1 was positively correlated with the degree of HCC malignancy and the poor prognosis of early-stage HCC （P<0.05）. Compared with the control group， the overexpression of exogenous AUF1 in HCC cells promoted the proliferation of HCC cells and inhibited the apoptosis and migration of HCC cells， while AUF1 knockdown inhibited HCC cell proliferation and promoted the apoptosis and migration of HCC cells. The RNA-seq analysis showed that AUF1 knockdown mainly affected the Wnt/β-catenin pathway and downregulated the protein expression level of β-catenin. ConclusionThe abnormal expression of AUF1 is associated with the prognosis of early-stage HCC， and AUF1 may exert an oncogenic effect by activating the Wnt signaling pathway.