MiR-92 suppresses proliferation and induces apoptosis by targeting EP4/Notch1 axis in gastric cancer

MiR-92a has been shown to be dysregulated in various cancers and exhibited differential role in carcinogenesis. In this study, we sought to delineate the functional role of miR-92a and its regulatory pathway in gastric cancer. MiR-92a expression were underexpressed in tissues of gastric cancer patients with the area under curve (AUC) of 0.78. Low expression in plasma was due to the increased promoter DNA methylation of miR-92a. Overexpression of miR-92a inhibited cell proliferation and invasion, and induced apoptosis. Furthermore, miR-92a reduced tumor growth in xenograft model. EP4 and Notch 1 were identified to be negatively regulated by miR-92a, and involved in cell growth. Moreover, NF-κB expression was inversely correlated with miR-92a in gastric cancer tissues and suppressed the expression of miR-92. This study unravels the tumor suppressive role of miR-92a involving EP4/Notch 1 signaling regulated by NF-κB in gastric cancer. Further studies on miR-92a and EP4/Notch1 may provide a new treatment strategy for gastric cancer.