MiRNA-621 exerts tumor suppressor function in gastric adenocarcinoma by targeting AURKA/GSK-3ß pathway.

ABSTRACT

Gastric adenocarcinoma is a major challenge to human health worldwide. Abnormal expression of miR-621 was found in many types of cancer. This research aimed to investigate the effects and detailed molecular mechanisms of miR-621 on gastric adenocarcinoma progression. The present study first showed that miR-621 was downregulated in gastric cancer patients, and its expression level was correlated with tumor size. MiR-621 overexpression inhibited viability, colony formation and proliferation of gastric cancer cells. AURKA was identified as a direct target of miR-621. AURKA knockdown induced decrease of p-GSK-3ß/GSK-3ß ratio and increase of p-ß-catenin/ß-catenin ratio which confirmed that AURKA positively regulated GSK-3ß phosphorylation. AURKA knockdown also inhibited proliferation of gastric adenocarcinoma cells. AURKA expression was negatively correlated with miR-621 level. In addition, AURKA overexpression reversed the effect of miR-621 on the growth of cancer cells. Taken together, our results suggest that miR-621 is an important tumor suppressor in gastric cancer and could be a promising target for the cancer treatment.