miR-30b inhibits cancer cell growth, migration, and invasion by targeting homeobox A1 in esophageal cancer.

Emerging evidence has shown that microRNAs (miRNAs) play important roles in tumor development and progression. In particular, miR-30b is thought to be closely related to the migration, invasion, proliferation, communication, and drug resistance of tumor cells. However, the potential value of miR-30b in human esophageal cancer (EC) remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the biological functions of miR-30b and its potential role in EC. The results indicated that the expression levels of miR-30b were decreased in EC tissues and were correlated with invasion classification (P < 0.01), lymph node metastasis (P < 0.01), and pathological stage (P < 0.05). Log-rank tests demonstrated that low expression of miR-30bwas strongly correlated with poor overall survival in patients with EC (P < 0.05). Moreover, overexpression of miR-30b markedly inhibited the growth, migration, and invasion of ECA109 and TE-1 cells by directly downregulating homeobox A1 (HOXA1). When HOXA1 was reintroduced into miR-30b-transfected ECA109 or TE-1 cells, the inhibitory effects of miR-30b on EC cell growth, migration, and invasion were markedly reversed. In conclusion, our findings demonstrated that miR-30b could inhibit tumor cell growth, migration, and invasion by directly targeting HOXA1 in EC cells.