HULC exerts its effect by upregulating the expression of methylase DNA (cytosin-5-)-methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) and thereby inhibiting the expression of miR-9 by eliciting methylation of CpG islands in the miR-9 promoter, preventing miR-9 from targeting the 3'UTR of PPARA. As a consequence, the transcription level of PPARA in hepatoma cells was upregulated. Here, HULC is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.