Characterization of miR-29 family expression and investigation of their mechanistic roles in gastric cancer.

Jianan Gong, Jianxiong Li, Yi Wang, Changzheng Liu, Hongyan Jia, Chongliang Jiang, Yuxuan Wang, Min Luo, Hongmei Zhao, Lei Dong, Wei Song, Fang Wang, Weibin Wang,Junwu Zhang,Jia Yu.

Carcinogenesis. 2013 Oct 15. [Epub ahead of print]

Abstract

Increasing evidence shows that abnormal microRNAs expression is involved in tumorgenesis. They might be the novel biomarkers or therapeutic targets in disease treatment. MicroRNA-29 family was previously reported to act as tumor suppressors or oncogenes in diverse cancers. However, their accurate expression, function and mechanism in gastric cancer (GC) are not well known. Here, we found that the expression of miR-29 family members was significantly reduced in GC compared to adjacent controls. Among them, miR-29c had the most reduced percentage in GC and was associated with aggressive and progressive phenotypes of GC. We further demonstrated that miR-29 family acted as tumor suppressors through targeting CCND2 and MMP2 genes in GC. Moreover, the inverse relationship between miR-29 family and their targets was verified in patients and xenograft mice. Finally, Re-introduction of miR-29 family significantly inhibited tumor formation of GC cells in the xenograft mice. Take together, our finding characterized the expression properties of miR-29 family, contributed to the function and molecular mechanism of miR-29 family in GC and implied that miR-29 family might be employed as novel prognostic markers and therapeutic targets of GC.