Please cite this article in press as: Rana MA, et al. Interplay of Wnt -catenin pathway and miRNAs in HBV pathogenesis leading to HCC. Clin Res Hepatol Gastroenterol (2018), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinre.2018.09.012 ARTICLE IN PRESS +Model CLINRE-1183; No. of Pages 14 Clinics and Research in Hepatology and Gastroenterology (2018) xxx, xxx—xxx Available online at ScienceDirect www.sciencedirect.com MINI REVIEW Interplay of Wnt -catenin pathway and miRNAs in HBV pathogenesis leading to HCC Muhammad Adeel Rana a,b , Bushra Ijaz b,* , Muhammad Daud b , Sommyya Tariq b , Tariq Nadeem b , Tayyab Husnain b a Department of microbiology, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan b Centre of Excellence in Molecular Biology, University of the Punjab, Lahore Pakistan KEYWORDS Hepatitis B virus (HBV); Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); Wnt/-catenin pathway; -catenin; microRNAs Summary The prevalence of Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has been identified world-wide. Plethora of factors including chronic infection of HBV/HCV has been characterized for the development of HCC. Although the onset and progression of HCC has been linked with awry of various signaling pathways but precise mechanism, still lies under the multitude layers of curiosity. HBV is spreading with insane speed throughout the world and has been found a main culprit in HCC development after regulating the several cellular pathways including Wnt/- catenin, Raf/MAPK, Akt and affecting cell multiplication to genomic instability. The role of Wnt/FZD/-catenin signaling pathway is centralized in liver functions and its anomalous acti- vation leads to HCC development. -catenin mainly plays a pivotal role in canonical pathway of the system. Altered mainly overexpression of -catenin along its nuclear localization tunes the aberrations in liver functions and set disease progression. In the development of HCC, modula- tion of Wnt/FZD/-catenin signaling pathway by HBV has been established. As HBV infects the cell it affects the miRNAs, the master regulators of cell. Previous studies showed the connection between HBV and cellular miRNAs. In the present review, we unveiled how HBV is deciphering the cellular miRNAs like miR-26a, miR-15a, miR-16-1, miR-148a, miR-132, miR-122, miR-34a, miR-21, miR-29a, miR-222 and miR-199a/b-3p to modulate the Wnt/FZD/-catenin signaling pathway and develop HCC. These HBV mediated miRNAs may prove future therapeutic options to treat HBV-Wnt/FZD/-catenin associated HCC. © 2018 Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. ∗ Corresponding author. E-mail address: bijaz 009@yahoo.com (B. Ijaz). Introduction Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the 6th most common malignancy around the globe [1]. It lacks proper prognosis and irrevocable therapeutic options. In HCC development, the role of viral chronic infection such as HBV/HCV has been https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinre.2018.09.012 2210-7401/© 2018 Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.