Elevated MicroRNA-31 Expression Regulates Colorectal Cancer Progression by Repressing Its Target Gene SATB2

Several studies have brought about increasing evidence to support the hypothesis that miRNAs play a pivotal role in multiple processes of carcinogenesis, including cell growth, apoptosis, differentiation, and metastasis. In this study, we investigated the potential role of miR-31 in colorectal cancer (CRC) aggressiveness and its underlying mechanisms. We found that miR-31 increased in CRC cells originated from metastatic foci and human primary CRC tissues with lymph node metastases. Furthermore, the high-level expression of miR-31 was significantly associated with a more aggressive and poor prognostic phenotype of patients with CRC (p < 0.05). The stable over-expression of miR-31 in CRC cells was sufficient to promote cell proliferation, invasion, and migration in vitro. It facilitated tumor growth and metastasis in vivo too. Further studies showed that miR-31 can directly bind to the 3’untranslated region (3’UTR) of SATB2 mRNA and subsequently repress both the mRNA and protein expressions of SATB2. Ectopic expression of SATB2 by transiently transfected with pCAG-SATB2 vector encoding the entire SATB2 coding sequence could reverse the effects of miR-31 on CRC tumorigenesis and progression. In addition, ectopic over-expression of miR-31 in CRC cells induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Our results illustrated that the up-regulation of miR-31 played an important role in CRC cell proliferation, invasion, and metastasis in vitro and in vivo through direct repressing SATB2, suggesting a potential application of miR-31 in prognosis prediction and therapeutic application in CRC.