hsa-miR-23a~27a~24-2 cluster members inhibit aggressiveness of breast cancer cells by commonly targeting NCOA1, NLK and RAP1B.

Targeted therapy is receiving considerable attention from the researchers around the globe owing to the increased drug-resistance and incidences of cancer recurrences. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) exhibits tremendous potential as a candidate for molecular targeted therapy in cancer. Unfortunately, majority of research related to microRNAs are focussed on either a particular miRNA or a set of unrelated miRNAs. There is lack of holistic knowledge on differential co-expression of miRNA clusters in regulating the gene expression under physiological conditions. Previously, we reported the cooperative effect of hsa-miR-23a~27a~24-2 cluster in inducing ER (Endoplasmic Reticulum) stress-mediated apoptotic cell death of HEK cells. In the present study, we have investigated the common anti-cancer effects of individual members of this cluster. Our in silico analysis identified twelve common target genes distributed across three independent clusters. Furthermore, we found NCOA1, NLK, and RAP1B to fall in a single cluster with NCOA1 as a central hub molecule. Prognostic analysis showed profound involvement of these three genes in the breast cancer progression and metastasis. We further demonstrated that alteration in the levels of individual members of miR-23a~27a~24-2 cluster commonly regulates the invasive migration of breast cancer cells by modulating EMT and cytoskeletal pathway proteins. Our results reveal a new insight into the therapeutic potential of individual members of the pro-apoptotic hsa-miR-23a~27a~24-2 cluster family against metastatic breast cancer.