〔Abstract〕 To investigate the mechanism of miR-224-5p on proliferation , apoptosis , invasion and mi- gration of human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells . Methods The RNA expression levels of miR-224-5p and early growth responsive gene 2 ( EGR2 ) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma were obtained from the TCGA dataset. Normal human hepatocytes LO2 and hepatoma cells HepG2 were cultured in vitro , and the HepG2 cells were transfected with lentiviral vectors ( knockdown of miR-224-5p) , small interfering RNA fragments or overex- pression vectors ( interference and overexpression of EGR2 ) . The expression levels of miR-224-5p and EGR2 in hepatocellular carcinoma cDNA chips and cells were detected by quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) . The expres- sion level of EGR2 protein was detected by Western blot. Dual luciferase reporter gene assay was used to detect the binding of miR-224-5p to EGR2 . HepG2 cells positive rate were detected by EdU assay , apoptosis rate was detec- ted by flow cytometry , cell invasion number was detected by Transwell assay , and cell mobility was detected by scratch assay . Results Compared with paracancerous tissues , the expression of miR-224-5p was increased and the expression of EGR2 mRNA decreased in HCC tissues . Compared with LO2 group , the expression of miR-224-5p in HepG2 cells increased , and the expression of EGR2 mRNA and protein decreased . Compared with the Lv-sh-NC group , the 24 h EdU positive cell rate , cell invasion number , and 48 h cell mobility of HepG2 cells in the Lv-sh- miR-224-5p group decreased , while the apoptosis rate increased . Compared with Oe-NC group , 24 h EdU positive cell rate , cell invasion number , and 48 h cell mobility of HepG2 cells in Oe-EGR2 group decreased , while apopto- sis rate increased . Compared with Lv-sh-NC group , the expression of EGR2 protein in Lv-sh-miR-224-5p group in- creased . Compared with Lv-sh-miR-224-5p + si-NC group , 24 h EdU positive cell rate , cell invasion rate , and 48 h cell mobility of HepG2 cells in Lv-sh-miR-224-5p + si-EGR2 group increased , while apoptosis number de- creased . Conclusion miR-224-5p can promote proliferation , invasion , and migration of HepG2 cells and inhibit apoptosis via binding with EGR2 .