miR-452 promotes the development of gastric cancer via targeting EPB41L3.

Gastric cancer is the most common malignant tumor of the digestive system and it is beneficial to find a safer and more effective therapeutic target if we have a deep understanding of the molecular function mechanism during the development of gastric cancer. In recent years, through many researches, we found that miRNA functions as oncogene or cancer suppressor gene, and it plays an important role in the occurrence and development of tumors. Many researches also showed that miR-452 has different expression patterns and roles in different tumors. Its expression is significantly reduced in glioma, breast cancer, colorectal cancer and prostate cancer; however, the expression is significantly increased in liver cancer, renal clear cell carcinoma, esophageal cancer and urothelial carcinoma, etc. However, the role and mechanism of miR-452 in gastric cancer is still unclear. In this study, we found that miR-452 was highly expressed in both tumor tissue and gastric cancer cells, and could directly target the cancer suppressor gene EPB41L3 3'-UTR. miR-452 significantly promoted the proliferation, migration and the S-phase arrest of gastric cancer cells, but EPB41L3 as a downstream target gene of miR-452 reversed such promoting effect. While down-regulation of miR-452 expression significantly inhibited the malignant biological behavior of gastric cancer cells, but this inhibitory effect was reversed by EPB41L3 siRNA. In addition, miR-452 in the gastric cancer xenograft model in nude mice could down-regulated the expression level of EPB41L3 and promote the growth of transplanted tumor in nude mice. Taken together, this study reveals the role of miR-452 in gastric cancer via inhibiting the target gene EPB41L3, suggesting that miR-452 has the potential to become a new target for the diagnosis and treatment of gastric cancer.