Objective: Emerging evidence has suggested that dysregulation of miR-874-3p may be involved in tumor development and progression in various types of cancers. However, its expression and biological function in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remains unclear. The aim of this study was to explore the roles of miR-874-3p in ESCC tumorigenesis and development.
Patients and methods: Quantitative Real Time-PCR was used to detect the expression of related mRNAs and miRNA in both ESCC tissues and cells. Then, statistical analysis was performed to determine the associations of miR-874-3p expression with the clinical features and the prognosis of ESCC. Cells proliferation and metastasis were assessed by cell viability assay and transwell assay. Luciferase reporter assays and Western blot were performed to analyze the regulation of putative target of miR-874-3p.
Results: We found that the expressions of miR-874-3p in ESCC tissues and cell lines were much lower than that in normal control, respectively. Also, there is a statistically significance between miR-874-3p expression level and lymph nodes metastasis and clinical stage. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that decreased miR-874-3p expression was associated with poor overall survival of patients. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that the expression of miR-874-3p was an independent prognostic factor for ESCC patients. After miR-874-3p mimics transfection, cell proliferation, migration, and invasion were significantly suppressed in the ESCC cells. Mechanistically, STAT3 was confirmed to be the downstream target of miR-874-3p in ESCC cells.
Conclusions: We indicate that miR-874-3p could be a new therapeutic target and prognostic marker of ESCC.