Downregulation of MicroRNA-455-3p Links to Proliferation and Drug Resistance of Pancreatic Cancer Cells via Targeting TAZ

Drug resistance is a major cause of treatment failure in pancreatic cancer. The limited evidence indicates the involvement of miR-455-3p in chemotherapy resistance of cancer. Here we observed by qPCR that miR-455-3p was significantly decreased in pancreatic cancer tissues and cell lines. We then confirmed that the inhibition of miR-455-3p increased cell proliferation and gemcitabine resistance of pancreatic cancer, whereas forced overexpression of miR-455-3p had the opposite effect. Furthermore, we demonstrated that TAZ, which is associated with drug resistance of pancreatic cancer, is a new direct downstream target of miR-455-3p. Our present study suggests that miR-455-3p contributes to cell proliferation and drug resistance in pancreatic cancer cells via targeting TAZ.