Downregulation of microRNA-193-3p inhibits the progression of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma cells by upregulating TGFBR3.

The aim of this study was to investigate the function of microRNA (miR)-193-3p in human intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) tissues and cells. To evaluate whether miR-193-3p was aberrantly upregulated, we used reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction to detect the level of miR-193-3p in ICC tissues and ICC-9810 cells. The effects of miR-193-3p downregulation on ICC cell proliferation, migration and invasion were also measured by MTT, wound-healing and Transwell assays. Additionally, transforming growth factor-β receptor type 3 (TGFBR3) was investigated as a direct target of miR-193-3p by dual-luciferase reporter assays and western blot analyses. The results demonstrated that miR-193-3p was aberrantly upregulated in ICC tissues and cell lines. Furthermore, TGFBR3 was confirmed to be a target of miR-193-3p in ICC and was notably upregulated by miR-193-3p knockdown in the ICC-9810 cells. The knockdown of miR-193-3p also exerted direct inhibitory effects on the proliferation, migration and invasion of the ICC-9810 cells. Therefore, we present evidence that miR-193-3p plays a key role in promoting human ICC by regulating TGFBR3.