MicroRNA‑133a‑3p inhibits cell proliferation, migration and invasion in colorectal cancer by targeting AQP1

Kong,Bin; Zhao,Shipeng; Kang,Xianwu; Wang,Bo

doi:10.3892/ol.2021.12910

MicroRNA‑133a‑3p inhibits cell proliferation, migration and invasion in colorectal cancer by targeting AQP1

Authors:
- Bin Kong
- Shipeng Zhao
- Xianwu Kang
- Bo Wang
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Affiliations: Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, Hebei 050051, P.R. China
Published online on: July 9, 2021 https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2021.12910
Article Number: 649
Copyright: © Kong et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

Recently, miR‑133a‑3p has been identified as a marker for human colorectal cancer (CRC) and the association between miR‑133a‑3p and aquaporin 1 (AQP1) has been described in endothelial cells. However, the regulatory functions of the miR‑133a‑3p/AQP1 axis remain unclear in CRC. The present study analyzed the expression of miR‑133a‑3p and AQP1 in CRC tissues (n=56) and cell lines using reverse transcription‑quantitative PCR and western blot analysis. The χ2 test was used to assess the associations between miR‑133a‑3p/AQP1 and clinicopathological features of patients with CRC. Next, the functional role of miR‑133a‑3p/AQP1 in CRC was evaluated in vitro by performing Cell Counting Kit‑8 and Transwell assays. Moreover, the online software tool TargetScan7.1 was used to predict AQP1 as the target gene of miR‑133a‑3p, followed by validation using a luciferase reporter assay. The results showed that miR‑133a‑3p was significantly downregulated, while AQP1 was upregulated in CRC tissues and cell lines compared with corresponding controls. Clinically, it was demonstrated that miR‑133a‑3p/AQP1 expression was significantly associated with tumor TNM stage (P=0.020). Functional experiments indicated that miR‑133a‑3p‑overexpression remarkably suppressed, while knockdown promoted, cell proliferation, migration and invasion in CRC cells. Mechanically, AQP1 was identified and validated as a target gene of miR‑133a‑3p in CRC cells. The expression level of AQP1 mRNA was not correlated with miR‑133a‑3p expression in CRC tissues. Furthermore, AQP1‑knockdown induced, while overexpression reversed, the suppressive effects of miR‑133a‑3p on CRC cells. Taken together, these findings suggested that miR‑133a‑3p might be a tumor suppressor by suppressing cell proliferation, migration and invasion via targeting AQP1.

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