Li L, Luo J, Wang B, Wang D, Xie X, Yuan L, Guo J, Xi S, Gao J, Lin X, Kong Y, Xu X, Tang H, Xie X, Liu M. Microrna-124 targets flotillin-1 to regulate proliferation and migration in breast cancer.
Mol Cancer 2013;
12:163. [PMID:
24330780 PMCID:
PMC4029407 DOI:
10.1186/1476-4598-12-163]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 88] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2013] [Accepted: 12/11/2013] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Background
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been documented as playing important roles in cancer development. In this study, we investigated the role of miR-124 in breast cancer and clarified the regulation of flotillin-1 (FLOT1) by miR-124.
Methods
The expression levels of miR-124 were examined in breast cancer cell lines and patient specimens using quantitative reverse transcription-PCR. The clinicopathological significance of the resultant data was later analyzed. Next, we explored the function of miR-124 to determine its potential roles on cancer cell growth and migration in vitro. A luciferase reporter assay was conducted to confirm the target gene of miR-124, and the results were validated in cell lines and patient specimens.
Results
We found that miR-124 expression was significantly downregulated in breast cancer cell lines and patient specimen compared with normal cell lines and paired adjacent normal tissues (P < 0.0001), respectively. MiR-124 was also associated with tumor node metastasis (TNM) stage (P = 0.0007) and lymph node metastasis (P = 0.0004). In breast cancer cell lines, the ectopic expression of miR-124 inhibited cell growth and migration in vitro. Moreover, we identified the FLOT1 gene as a novel direct target of miR-124, and miR-124 ectopic expression significantly inhibited FLOT1. Luciferase assays confirmed that miR-124 could directly bind to the 3′ untranslated region of FLOT1 and suppress translation. Moreover, FLOT1 was widely upregulated, and inversely correlated with miR-124 in breast cancer tissues. Consistent with the effect of miR-124, the knockdown of FLOT1 significantly inhibited breast cancer cell growth and migration. We also observed that the rescue expression of FLOT1 partially restored the effects of miR-124.
Conclusions
Our study demonstrated that miR-124 might be a tumor suppressor in breast cancer via the regulation of FLOT1. This microRNA could serve as a potential diagnostic marker and therapeutic target for breast cancer.
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