MiR-616-3p promotes angiogenesis and EMT in gastric cancer via the PTEN/AKT/mTOR pathway
Abstract
Dysregulation of microRNAs has been demonstrated to be involved in a variety of biological events related to cancer, including proliferation, metastasis, angiogenesis and immune escape. MiR-616-3p is located on the chromosome region 12q13.3, however, its potential role and clinical implications in gastric cancer remain poorly understood. The current study aimed to investigate the potential role of miR-616-3p in gastric cancer. The results showed that miR-616-3p was up-regulated in cancer tissues. Higher expression of miR-616-3p in tumor tissues also predicted poor prognosis. Furthermore, loss- and gain-of-function in vitro revealed that miR-616-3p promoted angiogenesis and EMT in gastric cancer cells. Mechanistically, further analysis demonstrated that the effects of miR-616-3p on metastasis and angiogenesis occurred through the down-regulation of PTEN, a direct target of miR-616-3p. We propose that the restoration of PTEN expression may block miR-616-3p-induced EMT and angiogenesis. Collectively, our findings suggest that the miR-616-3p-PTEN signaling axis might be a potential therapeutic target for gastric cancer.
Citations
Related Concepts
Related Feeds
Angiogenesis Inhibitors to Treat Cancer
Cancer treatments including angiogenesis inhibitors prevent tumor cells from receiving nutrients and oxygen. Here is the latest research on angiogenesis inhibitors for the treatment of cancer.