title: MiR-137 acts as a tumor suppressor in papillary thyroid carcinoma by targeting CXCL12.
abstract: Accumulating evidence has shown that aberrantly expressed microRNAs (miRs) are extensively involved in tumorigenesis. microRNA-137 (miR-137) has been reported as a tumor suppressor in various types of cancer. However, the biological function and underlying molecular mechanism of miR-137 in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) remain largely unknown. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the expression pattern of miR-137 and its functional significance in PTC. Quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) assay showed that miR-137 expression was significantly downregulated in human PTC tissues, and its expression was significantly negatively correlated with tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage and lymph node metastasis. Functional assays showed that forced expression of miR-137 in PTC cells significantly inhibited proliferation, colony formation, migration and invasion in vitro. Importantly, on the basis of bioinformatic analysis and luciferase reporter assay, we found that miR-137 directly targeted the 3'-untranslated region (3'-UTR) of C-X-C motif chemokine 12 (also known as SDF-1) (CXCL12). qRT-PCR and western blot analysis further verified the results and demonstrated that miR-137 could downregulate CXCL12 expression in PTC cells. We also confirmed that CXCL12 expression was increased in PTC tissues and was inversely correlated with miR-137. In addition, our results also showed that downregulation of CXCL12 mimicked the effects of miR-137 overexpression, and upregulation of CXCL12 partially reversed the inhibitory effects of miR-137 in PTC cells. These results showed that miR-137 may function as a tumor suppressor in PTC by targeting CXCL12, suggesting that miR-137 may act as a potential target for PTC treatment.
authors: Department of Anesthesia, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Chaoyang, Changchun, Jilin 130021, P.R. China.
authors: Su
authors: S
authors: Dong
authors: Department of Pathology, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Chaoyang, Changchun, Jilin 130021, P.R. China.
authors: Meishan
authors: M
authors: Jin
authors: Department of Radiology, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Chaoyang, Changchun, Jilin 130021, P.R. China.
authors: Ye
authors: Y
authors: Li
authors: Department of Thyroid Surgery, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Chaoyang, Changchun, Jilin 130021, P.R. China.
authors: Peiyou
authors: P
authors: Ren
authors: Department of Thyroid Surgery, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Chaoyang, Changchun, Jilin 130021, P.R. China.
authors: Jia
authors: J
authors: Liu
mesh_terms: D020413:3' Untranslated Regions; D000368:Aged; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*; D002291:Carcinoma, Papillary; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D054377:Chemokine CXCL12 / Q000235:genetics*; D015536:Down-Regulation; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D011379:Prognosis; D000077273:Thyroid Cancer, Papillary; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D020413:3' Untranslated Regions; C515255:CXCL12 protein, human; D054377:Chemokine CXCL12; C545567:MIRN137 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs