The Role of MicroRNA-1207-5p in Colorectal Cancer.

BACKGROUND: MicroRNA-1207-5p (MiR-1207-5p) has been identified as a tumor suppressor in many types of cancer. However, less research has been done with respect to the role of miR-1207-5p in colorectal cancer (CRC). The aim of our study was to analyze the role of miR-1207-5p in CRC.

METHODS: Total RNA was extracted from clinical specimens and CRC cell line, and the expression of miR-1207-5p was examined by real-time PCR (q-PCR). The human CRC cell lines were transfected with the miR-1207-5p mimic, negative control (NC). Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assays were performed to measure cell viability. The colony formation assay was carried out to analyze the clone forming ability. The cell cycle was analyzed by flow cytometer. The significance of the data was calculated by the SPSS software.

RESULTS: The relative expression of miR-1207-5p in CRC tissues and adjacent noncancerous tissues (normalized to U6 expression) were 0.0546 ± 0.0131 and 0.1928 ± 0.0317, (p < 0.01), with obvious significant difference between the two groups. The expression of miR-1207-5p was significantly lower in CRC patients with advanced TNM stage (p = 0.018) and positive lymph node metastasis (p = 0.033) and shorter overall survival (p = 0.049). In addition, it enhances the expression of miR-1207-5p suppressed cell proliferation ability, clone forming ability, and promoted cell apoptosis in vitro.

CONCLUSIONS: The lower expression of miR-1207-5p was correlated with advanced TNM stage and lymph node metastasis and shorter patient overall survival. These results indicated that miR-1207-5p may function as tumor suppressor in CRC.