CASP3 and hepatocellular carcinoma: In order to investigate the role of miR-146a on the malignant phenotypes of HCC cells, we performed in vitro experiments in the current study to explore the effect of miR-146a on the cell proliferation, viability, caspase-3/7 activity, apoptosis, and regulation of cellular signals in HCC cells lines Hep3B, HepG2, and SNU449.