Influence of microRNA-34a on proliferation, invasion and metastasis of HCT116 cells

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of microRNA (miR)‑34a expression in the proliferation, invasion and metastasis of colon cancer and its underlying mechanisms. HCT116 cells were cultured in high‑sugar Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM) containing 10% fetal bovine serum and 1000U/ml penicillin‑streptomycin. Following digestion and resuspension, the cells were used for transfection, expression and western blot analysis. HCT116 cells from miR‑34a transfection, negative control and blank control groups were seeded into a 96‑well plate at a density of 105cells/ml, and 200µl complete DMEM was added. The data are presented as the mean±standard error. A one‑way analysis of variance was performed to compare groups. miR‑34a‑HCT116 cells demonstrated significantly increased expression levels of miR‑34a. The proliferation of HCT116 cells with overexpression of miR‑34a was significantly inhibited to 0.49±0.11 compared with the blank control group (P<0.001). Compared with the blank control and negative control groups, the protein expression levels of B‑cell lymphoma2 (Bcl‑2) were markedly reduced in the miR‑34a transfected group. Furthermore, the protein expression levels of Bcl‑2‑associated X protein were significantly increased and those of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)‑2 and MMP‑9 were markedly reduced in the miR‑34a transfected group, MMP‑9 to a greater extent. The present study suggested that overexpression of miR‑34a may inhibit the proliferation, invasion and metastasis of HCT116 cells.