Abstract
microRNAs (miRNAs/miRs) are crucial regulators of gene expression at the post-translational level through promoting mRNA degradation or the repression of translation of target genes. miRs have been confirmed to serve a dominant role in tumor biology. miR-486-5p has been ascertained to be involved in non-small-cell lung cancer, breast cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma; however, the expression and function of miR-486-5p in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) has yet to be elucidated. The present study aimed to analyze the expression levels of miR-486-5p in ESCC tissues and paired normal adjacent tissues, and determine the effects of miR-486-5p on esophageal cancer cells using MTT, wound scratch and apoptosis assays. The current results showed that miR-486-5p was significantly downregulated in ESCC specimens. Ectopic expression of miR-486-5p by synthetic mimics reduced cell proliferation and migration and induced increased cell apoptosis. The results indicated miR-486-5p may function as a tumor suppressor in ESCC. The present study demonstrated that miR-486-5p was downregulated in ESCC and served a anti-oncogene role in ESCC via affecting cellular migration.
Highlights
Esophageal cancer is the eighth most common type of cancer and the sixth leading cause of cancer‐associated mortality worldwide [1,2,3]
The results indicated that miR‐486‐5p was downregulated in Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) tissues and functioned as an anti‐oncogene in ESCC by affecting cellular migration, proliferation and apoptosis
Results miR‐486‐5p expression levels were downregulated in ESCC tissues
Summary
Esophageal cancer is the eighth most common type of cancer and the sixth leading cause of cancer‐associated mortality worldwide [1,2,3]. Esophageal cancer incidence in men is higher compared with that in women, and its occurrence increases with age, and mortality rate is ~90% for all cases [1,2,4]. Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is the predominant histological type amongst Chinese populations, resulting in 150,000 cases of mortality annually [5]. It is critical to identify novel molecular mechanisms to elucidate oncogenesis and metastasis in ESCC. Since miRNA‐lin‐4 was initially identified in 1993, numerous miRNAs have been ascertained to be involved in various physiological and pathological processes, including carcinogenesis [10]. Several miRNAs such as miR‐21, miR‐34a and miR‐155 have been found to be associated with carcinogenesis by targeting oncogenes or anti‐oncogenes [11,12,13]
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