MicroRNA-24 inhibits the proliferation, migration and invasion and enhances chemosensitivity of human gastric cancer by targeting DND1.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Gastric cancer causes significant human mortality and is the fourth prevalent type of cancer across the globe. The gastric cancer treatment is hurdled by late diagnosis due to unavailability of biomarkers, lack of potent therapeutic targets and adverse effects of chemotherapy. Recent reports have indicated that miR-24 acts a tumor suppressor in different cancers. This study explored the role and therapeutic implications of miR-24 in gastric cancer. METHODS: Expression analysis was carried out in gastric cancer tissues and cell lines by qRT-PCR. Proliferation rate was monitored by WST-1 assay. Transwell assay was used to determine cell invasion and wound healing assay was used for cell migration. Protein expression analysis was carried out by western blot analysis. RESULTS: The results showed that miR-24 was significantly suppressed in gastric cancer tissues and cell lines. Overexpression of miR-24 in SNU-1 gastric cancer cells resulted in decline of proliferation rate in a time-dependent manner. In silico analysis together with the dual luciferase assay revealed RNA binding protein DND1 to be the target of miR-24. Expression analysis of DND1 was found to be significantly overexpressed in gastric cancer tissues and cell lines. Suppression of DND1 suppressed the proliferation of gastric cancer cells. Wound healing and transwell assay revealed that miR-24 overexpression also inhibited the migration and invasion and also enhanced the chemosensitivity of the SNU1 gastric cancer cells. CONCLUSION: Taken together, miR-24 may prove to be an important therapeutic target for the treatment of gastric cancer and warrants further studies.