title: miR-517a is an independent prognostic marker and contributes to cell migration and invasion in human colorectal cancer.
abstract: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a highly invasive tumor that is frequently associated with distant metastasis, which is the primary cause of poor prognosis. However, the mechanisms of metastasis remain poorly understood. MicroRNAs (miRNAs/miRs) have been considered to be implicated in CRC progression. In particular, miR-517a is proposed as a novel tumor-associated miRNA and has a potential role in tumor metastasis. The expression of miR-517a in CRC specimens was detected by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Transwell assays were performed to determine the migration and invasion of CRC cells. The putative target genes of miR-517a were disclosed using publicly available databases and western blot analysis. The present study identified that the expression of miR-517a was significantly higher in CRC tissues as compared with adjacent non-tumor tissues. Clinical analysis indicated that increased expression of miR-517a was correlated with poor prognostic features and poor long-term survival of CRC patients.In vitroevidences demonstrated that downregulation of miR-517a inhibited cell migration and invasion in HCT-116 cells. By contrast, upregulation of miR-517a increased the number of migrated and invaded SW480 cells. Notably, miR-517a expression was inversely regulated by forkhead box J3 (FOXJ3) abundance in CRC cells. Furthermore, an inverse correlation between miR-517a and FOXJ3 expression was observed in CRC tissues. In conclusion, miR-517a appears to be an independent prognostic marker for predicting survival of CRC patients, and may promote cell migration and invasion by inhibiting FOXJ3.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710004, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Wenqi
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710004, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710004, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jue
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710004, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xiaopeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: DU
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710004, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Lili
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710004, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Linlin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710004, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Q I
authors.initials: QI
authors.lastname: Zhou
keywords: colorectal cancer; invasion; miR-517a; migration; prognostic marker