MicroRNA­30a regulates cell proliferation, migration, invasion and apoptosis in human nasopharyngeal carcinoma via targeted regulation of ZEB2.

MicroRNA­30a (miR­30a) was previously reported to serve as a tumor suppressor able to inhibit the development and progression of certain types of cancer. A number of previous studies demonstrated that zinc finger E­box binding homeobox 2 (ZEB2) may be regulated by miR­30a in clear cell renal cell carcinoma and breast cancer. However, the function of miR­30a in human nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) remains unclear. The present study aimed to investigate the association between miR­30a and ZEB2 in NPC. Therefore, the expression levels of miR­30a and ZEB2 were measured in human NPC cells and tissues from patients with NPC, and the present results suggested that the expression level of miR­30a was significantly decreased in NPC tissues compared with paracancerous tissues. The direct interaction between miR­30a and the untranslated region of ZEB2 was examined using the dual­luciferase reporter assay, and ZEB2 was identified as a direct target of miR­30a. Additionally, the effects of miR­30a and ZEB2 overexpression on cell proliferation, migration, invasion and apoptosis were additionally investigated. Functional experiments identified that overexpression of miR­30a increased apoptosis and suppressed cell proliferation, cell migration and cell invasion by directly targeting ZEB2. Collectively, the present study suggested that miR­30a may serve an important role in the progression of NPC and may represent a novel target for the treatment of patients with NPC.