miR-149-5p targets AEBP1 to inhibit migration and invasion of gastric cancer cells

Abstract:

Objective To investigate the effects of miR-149-5p in regulating the migration and invasion ability of gastric cancer（GC） cells and the molecular mechanism.Methods The expression of miR-149-5p in GC cell lines and tissue specimens was measured by qRT-PCR to analyze the relationship between miR-149-5p expression and the clinicopathological parameters and prognosis of patients with GC. We separately overexpressed and knocked down miR-149-5p in GC cells to investigate the expression level of miR-149-5p on the migration and invasion ability of GC cells using Transwell assay. The target genes of miR-149-5p were predicted using bioinformatic tools，which were verified using luciferase reporter gene assay.Results The expression of miR-149-5p was significantly down-regulated in both GC tissues and cell lines（P<0.05）. The expression level of miR-149-5p was significantly correlated with the depth of invasion（P=0.016），lymph node metastasis（P=0.001），and TNM stage（P=0.023） of patients with GC. Low expression of miR-149-5p was an independent risk factor for the overall survival of patients with GC. Compared with the control group，miR-149-5p mimics significantly inhibited the migration and invasion ability of gastric cancer cells（P<0.01），while transfection with miR-149-5p inhibitors produced the opposite effects（P<0.05）. miR-149-5p targeted the expression of adipocyte enhancer-binding protein 1（AEBP1）. The luciferase reporter gene assay showed that miR-149-5p significantly inhibited the luciferase activity of the wild-type AEBP1 vector（P<0.01），with no effects on the luciferase activity of the mutant type. Knockdown of AEBP1 could partly reverse the effects of downregulating miR-149-5p on the migration and invasion ability of GC cells.Conclusion miR-149-5p is lowly expressed in GC tissues，which can negatively regulate the migration and invasion of GC cells by targeting AEBP1 protein expression.