microRNA-96 acts as a tumor suppressor gene in human osteosarcoma via target regulation of EZRIN.

AIMS: microRNA-96 (miR-96) is considered as a tumor suppressor in multiple malignancies. Some studies have indicated that EZRIN could be regulated by the miR-96 in several kinds of cancer cells. However, the function of miR-96 in human osteosarcoma has not been investigated intensively so far. In this study, we mainly explored the relationship between miR-96 and the expression of EZRIN in human osteosarcoma cells.

MAIN METHODS: The levels of miR-96 and EZRIN in osteosarcoma tissues and paracancerous tissues of patients were evaluated with qPCR. The targeted regulation between miR-96 and EZRIN was further confirmed with Dual luciferase assay. Overexpression of miR-96 and EZRIN was induced in human osteosarcoma cell line, and the changing of cell viability was analyzed to determine the role of miR-96 in human osteosarcoma in vitro and in vivo.

KEY FINDINGS: Our results showed that the expression level of miR-96 was much lower in human osteosarcoma tissues compared with human paracancerous tissues. Dual luciferase assay indicated that EZRIN as the direct target of miR-96 in osteosarcoma cells. Besides, the up-regulation of miR-96 could inhibit cell proliferation, cell migration and invasion, tumor formation ability, and increase the percentage of cell apoptosis in osteosarcoma cells through inhibiting EZRIN.

SIGNIFICANCE: Therefore, our study indicated that miR-96 hold an important role for the development and progress of human osteosarcoma, and this miRNA might become a novel target in the diagnosis and treatment of human osteosarcoma and even other cancers.