Dysregulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) plays a critical role in cancer progression. They can act as either oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes in human cancer. The purpose of this study was to investigate the crucial role of miR-135b in breast cancer and to validate whether miR-135b could regulate proliferation of breast cancer cells by effecting specific targets in the Hippo pathway. Quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was carried out to quantify the expression levels of miR-135b in both breast cancer tissues and cell lines. To characterize the function of miR-135b, MTT assays, colony formation assays, cell migration assays, cell invasion assays, and cell cycle assays were used. Luciferase reporter assays were performed to validate the regulation of a putative target of miR-135b, in corroboration with western blot assays. Finally, we verified the changes of cellular function after transfection of LATS2-siRNA. Our experiments indicate that expression of miR-135b was commonly upregulated in breast cancer specimens and breast cancer cells when compared with that in adjacent normal tissues and non-malignant breast epithelial cells. Enforced expression of miR-135b can regulate cellular proliferation, migration and invasion as well as disrupt the cell cycle of breast cancer cells. Luciferase assays revealed that miR-135b directly bound to the 3'-untranslated region (3'-UTR) of LATS2 (large tumor suppressor kinase 2), a critical gene in the Hippo pathway. Western blot analysis verified that miR-135b regulated the expression of LATS2 at protein levels. Further study demonstrated that the downstream gene of LATS2 in the Hippo pathway, such as cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) and Phospho-Yes-associated protein (p-YAP), can also be regulated by miR-135b and LATS2 axis. Knockdown of endogenous LATS2 can mimic the result of miR-135b up-regulation in breast cancer. Taken together, our findings reveal that the miR-135b and LATS2 axis may be a potential therapeutic target for breast cancer in the future.

The purpose of this study was to examine the expression levels of microRNA-7 (miR-7) in human thyroid papillary cancer and its potential role in disease pathogenesis. The expression levels of different miRNAs were detected by miRNA-microarray analysis in ten thyroid papillary cancer specimens and adjacent normal thyroid cancer tissues. Quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was conducted to determine the expression level of miR-7 in both thyroid papillary cancer tissues and cell lines. To characterize the function of miR-7, MTT assay, colony formation assay, cell migration assay, cell invasion assay, cell cycle assay and cell apoptosis assay were used. Luciferase reporter assays were performed to validate the regulation of a putative target of miR-7, in corroboration with western blot assays. Finally, MTT assay, cell migration assay, cell invasion assay and cell cycle assay were used to indicate the roles of endogenous cyclin-dependent kinase regulatory subunit 2 (CKS2) in thyroid papillary cancer cells. Our results reveal that miR-7 expression was relatively decreased in thyroid papillary cancer specimens and cell lines compared with adjacent normal tissues and normal thyroid cells. Overexpression of miR-7 inhibited cellular proliferation, suppressed cellular migration and invasion, caused a G0/G1 arrest in vitro. Dual-luciferase reporter assays showed that miR-7 binds the 3'-untranslated region (3'-UTR) of CKS2. Western blotting showed that miR-7 negatively regulated CKS2 protein expression. As its downstream genes, cyclin B1 (G2/mitotic-specific cyclin-B1) and cdk1 (cyclin-dependent kinase 1) were regulated by miR-7 and CKS2 axis. Knockdown of CKS2 expression by CKS2-siRNA in TPC1 and K1 cells also significantly suppressed cell proliferation, cell migration and invasion. Our results demonstrated for the first time that miR-7 functions as a tumor suppressor and plays an important role in inhibiting the tumorigenesis through targeting CKS2 in thyroid papillary cancer cells.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) has the worst prognosis of all subtypes of breast cancer (BC), with limited options for conventional therapy and no targeted therapies. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs that negatively regulate gene expression. In this study, we aimed to determine whether two members of the miR-200 family, miR-200b-3p and miR-429-5p, are involved in BC cell proliferation and motility and to elucidate their target genes and pathways. We performed a meta-analysis that reveals down-regulated expression of miR-200b-3p and miR-429-5p in BC tissues and cell lines, consistent with a lower expression of miR-200b-3p and miR-429-5p in MDA-MB-231 and HCC1937 cells than in MCF-7 and MCF-10 cells. Overexpression of miR-200b-3p and miR-429-5p significantly inhibited the proliferation, migration, and invasion of TNBC cells; suppressed the expression of markers for proliferation and metastasis in TNBC cells. We next demonstrated that LIM domain kinase 1 (LIMK1) is a direct target gene of miR-200b-3p and miR-429-5p. Inhibition of LIMK1 reduced the expression and phosphorylation of cofilin 1 (CFL1), which polymerizes and depolymerizes F-actin and G-actin to reorganize cellular actin cytoskeleton. In addition, transfection with mimics for miR-200b-3p and miR-429-5p arrested G2/M and G0/G1 cell cycles respectively, suppressed the expression of the cell cycle–related complexes, cyclin D1/CDK4/CDK6 and cyclin E1/CDK2, in TNBC cells. In conclusion, miR-200b-3p and miR-429-5p suppress proliferation, migration, and invasion in TNBC cells, via the LIMK1/CFL1 pathway. These results provide insight into how specific miRNAs regulate TNBC progression and suggest that the LIMK1/CFL1 pathway is a therapeutic target for treating TNBC.