We then retrieved studies and papers about the 15 miRNA targets in PubMed, and ultimately obtained four targets (NTF3, PSMD14, SORT1, and CD320) that had not been previously studied in-depth in HCC, especially the relationship between immune infiltration and HCC progression (Fig. 4E, Additional file 1: Fig. S4). Here, SORT1 is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.