MiR-199a-3p affects the multi-chemoresistance of osteosarcoma through targeting AK4

BACKGROUND: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play vital roles in regulating various biological processes. The dysregulations of miRNAs may result in severe human diseases, including cancer. METHODS: We performed the qRT-PCR, western blot and the luciferase reporter assays to test whether Adenylate Kinase 4 (AK4) is the target of miR-199a-3p. Up- or down-regulation of miR-199a-3p and/or the AK4 gene was done to detect their roles in OS multi-drug resistance using drug resistance profiling assays. We further predicted the putative signal pathway involved in the miR-199a-3p-mediated OS drug-resistance. RESULTS: The AK4 gene is one of the targets of miR-199a-3p and negatively correlates with the effect of miR-199a-3p on OS drug-resistance. In addition, the activity of the NF-кB signaling pathway was drastically altered by the forced changes of the miR-199a-3p level in OS cells. CONCLUSIONS: Our data revealed that both miR-199a-3p and its target gene AK4 are reversely correlated with the OS drug resistance. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12885-018-4460-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.