MiR-19a-3p regulates the Forkhead box F2-mediated Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway and affects the biological functions of colorectal cancer cells.
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide.
To explore the expression of microRNA miR-19a-3p and Forkhead box F2 (FOXF2) in patients with CRC and the relevant mechanisms.
Sixty-two CRC patients admitted to the hospital were enrolled into the study group, and sixty healthy people from the same period were assigned to the control group. Elbow venous blood was sampled from the patients and healthy individuals, and blood serum was saved for later analysis. MiR-19a-3p mimics, miR-19a-3p inhibitor, miR-negative control, small interfering-FOXF2, and short hairpin-FOXF2 were transfected into HT29 and HCT116 cells. Then quantitative polymerase chain reaction was performed to quantify the expression of miR-19a-3p and FOXF2 in HT29 and HCT116 cells, and western blot (WB) analysis was conducted to evaluate the levels of FOXF2, glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta (GSK-3β), phosphorylated GSK-3β (p-GSK-3β), β-catenin, p-β-catenin, α-catenin, N-cadherin, E-cadherin, and vimentin. The MTT, Transwell, and wound healing assays were applied to analyze cell proliferation, invasion, and migration, respectively, and the dual luciferase reporter assay was used to determine the correlation of miR-19a-3p with FOXF2.
The patients showed high serum levels of miR-19a-3p and low levels of FOXF2, and the area under the curves of miR-19a-3p and FOXF2 were larger than 0.8. MiR-19a-3p and FOXF2 were related to sex, tumor size, age, tumor-node-metastasis staging, lymph node metastasis, and differentiation of CRC patients. Silencing of miR-19a-3p and overexpression of FOXF2 suppressed the epithelial-mesenchymal transition, invasion, migration, and proliferation of cells. WB analysis revealed that silencing of miR-19a-3p and FOXF2 overexpression significantly suppressed the expression of p-GSK-3β, β-catenin, N-cadherin, and vimentin; and increased the levels of GSK-3β, p-β-catenin, α-catenin, and E-cadherin. The dual luciferase reporter assay confirmed that there was a targeted correlation of miR-19a-3p with FOXF2. In addition, a rescue experiment revealed that there were no differences in cell proliferation, invasion, and migration in HT29 and HCT116 cells co-transfected with miR-19a-3p-mimics+sh-FOXF2 and miR-19a-3p-inhibitor+si-FOXF2 compared to the miR-negative control group.
Inhibiting miR-19a-3p expression can upregulate the FOXF2-mediated Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, thereby affecting the epithelial-mesenchymal transition, proliferation, invasion, and migration of cells. Thus, miR-19a-3p is likely to be a therapeutic target in CRC.
Yu FB
,Sheng J
,Yu JM
,Liu JH
,Qin XX
,Mou B
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HOTTIP knockdown inhibits cell proliferation and migration via regulating miR-490-3p/HMGB1 axis and PI3K-AKT signaling pathway in ox-LDL-induced VSMCs.
Atherosclerosis (AS) is a common cardiovascular disease with complicated pathogenesis. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been reported to be associated with AS progression. We aimed to explore the role and underlying mechanism of HOXA transcript at the distal tip (HOTTIP) in AS.
Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was performed to detect the expression of HOTTIP, miR-490-3p and high mobility group B 1 (HMGB1) in AS patients' sera and oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) induced human aortic vascular smooth muscle cells (HA-VSMCs). Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay and transwell assay were conducted to evaluate the proliferation and migration of HA-VSMCs, respectively. Western blot assay was carried out to determine the levels of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), matrix metalloprotein 2 (MMP2), MMP9 and HMGB1. Dual-luciferase reporter assay and RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assay were conducted to verify the targeting association between HOTTIP and miR-490-3p, as well as miR-490-3p and HMGB1.
HOTTIP and HMGB1 were upregulated and miR-490-3p was downregulated in the sera of AS patients and ox-LDL-stimulated HA-VSMCs. HOTTIP knockdown suppressed ox-LDL induced proliferation and migration in HA-VSMCs. MiR-490-3p was identified as a target of HOTTIP and HOTTIP overexpression abolished the inhibition on cell proliferation and migration mediated by miR-490-3p in ox-LDL-induced HA-VSMCs. Moreover, miR-490-3p inhibition promoted cell proliferation and migration by directly targeting HMGB1 in ox-LDL-induced HA-VSMCs. Besides, HOTTIP knockdown repressed the activation of PI3K-AKT signaling pathway.
HOTTIP knockdown suppressed cell proliferation and migration by regulating miR-490-3p/HMGB1 axis and PI3K-AKT pathway in ox-LDL-induced HA-VSMCs.
Guo X
,Liu Y
,Zheng X
,Han Y
,Cheng J
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