miR-625 down-regulation promotes proliferation and invasion in esophageal cancer by targeting Sox2.

miR-625 has been reported to exhibit abnormal expression in esophageal cancer (EC), but the mechanism and functions of miR-625 in esophageal cancer remain unclear. miR-625 down-regulation and Sox2 up-regulation were validated by qRT-PCR in 158 EC samples. Low expression of miR-625 promotes cell proliferation and invasion, while high expression of miR-625 has the opposite effect. Sox2, a target gene of miR-625, was examined by luciferase assay and western blot. Our data suggest that miR-625 may regulate the biological processes of EC via controlling Sox2 expression.

Wang Z ，Qiao Q ，Chen M ，Li X ，Wang Z ，Liu C ，Xie Z ... -  《-》

MiR-203 suppresses tumor growth and invasion and down-regulates MiR-21 expression through repressing Ran in esophageal cancer.

The expression of miR-203 has been reported to be significantly down-regulated in esophageal cancer. We showed here that overexpression of miR-203 in esophageal cancer cells dramatically increased cell apoptosis and inhibited cell proliferation, migration and invasion as well as tumor growth and down-regulated miR-21 expression. We subsequently identified that small GTPase Ran was a target gene of miR-203. Furthermore, Ran restoration partially counteracted the tumor suppressive effects of miR-203 and increased miR-21 expression. Taken together, our findings suggest that miR-203 may act as novel tumor suppressor in esophageal cancer through down-regulating the expression of Ran and miR-21.

Zhang F ，Yang Z ，Cao M ，Xu Y ，Li J ，Chen X ，Gao Z ，Xin J ，Zhou S ，Zhou Z ，Yang Y ，Sheng W ，Zeng Y ... -  《-》

Downregulation of miR-638 promotes invasion and proliferation by regulating SOX2 and induces EMT in NSCLC.

Aberrant expression of microRNAs has been shown to regulate the biological processes of lung cancer cells. However, the role of miR-638 in the development of NSCLC is still unclear. In this study, low miR-638 and high SOX2 were shown to be associated with tumor size and metastasis of NSCLC patients. Downregulated miR-638 could promote cell invasion and proliferation, while high miR-638 expression reversed the effect. Furthermore, miR-638 could regulate SOX2 by directly binding to its 3'-UTR. Silencing of SOX2 by siRNA partially abolished the enhancement of cell invasion and proliferation induced by downregulated miR-638. Aberrant miR-638 expression could modulate the expression levels of markers of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. Our results indicate that miR-638 may play a pivotal role in the development of NSCLC.

Xia Y ，Wu Y ，Liu B ，Wang P ，Chen Y ... -  《-》

miR-129-2 suppresses proliferation and migration of esophageal carcinoma cells through downregulation of SOX4 expression.

Kang M ，Li Y ，Liu W ，Wang R ，Tang A ，Hao H ，Liu Z ，Ou H ... -  《-》

STAT3 is involved in miR-124-mediated suppressive effects on esophageal cancer cells.

Cheng Y ，Li Y ，Nian Y ，Liu D ，Dai F ，Zhang J ... -  《BMC CANCER》