Further studies showed that miR-5195-3p negatively regulated malignant biological behaviour in HCC by targeting sex determining region Y-box 9 (SOX9), which could interact with a variety of downstream proteins and exhibit stimulatory or inhibitory activity in different types of cancer cells [18], and tropomyosin 4 (TPM4), which is abnormally expressed in a variety of cancers [19]. This evidence concerns the gene SOX9 and hepatocellular carcinoma.