MicroRNA-363-3p suppresses anoikis resistance in human papillary thyroid carcinoma via targeting integrin alpha 6.

MicroRNAs are highly conserved endogenous small noncoding RNAs and demonstrated to play important roles in the metastatic cascade of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), including the process of anoikis resistance. In this study, the correlation between miRNA-363-3p (miR-363-3p) expression and PTC metastasis was analyzed based on clinical data, and the effect and related mechanism of miR-363-3p on anoikis resistance in B-CPAP cells were further investigated. First, miR-363-3p was found to be down-regulated in PTC tissue, which was correlated with the advanced clinical stage and lymph node (LN) metastasis. Then, functional study revealed that miR-363-3p was also down-regulated in B-CPAP cells compared with that in thyroid epithelial Nthy-ori3-1 cells, and miR-363-3p transfection could suppress anoikis resistance of B-CPAP cells. Finally, integrin alpha 6 (ITGA6) was validated as the target gene of miR-363-3p, and restoration of ITGA6 expression attenuated miR-363-3p's inhibitory effect on anoikis resistance in B-CPAP cells. These findings contribute to understand the role of miR-363-3p in the metastatic cascade of PTC and suggest the potential clinical value of miR-363-3p for the prevention of PTC metastasis.