miR-106b-5p contributes to the lung metastasis of breast cancer via targeting CNN1 and regulating Rho/ROCK1 pathway

Objectives: Breast cancer has been the second most prevalent and fatal malignancy due to its frequent metastasis to other organs. We aim to study the effects of a key miRNA-mRNA signaling in breast cancer. Results: CNN1 was identified as the key gene in breast cancer by the bioinformatics analysis, and the downregulation of CNN1 in breast cancer tissues and cell lines was observed. Upregulating CNN1 inhibited cell survival, migration, invasion, and adhesion, but enhanced cell apoptosis. miR-106b-5p not only bound to CNN1 mRNA 3’UTR, but also promoted lung metastasis in vivo. Besides, the miR-106b-5p mimic enhanced breast cancer canceration by targeting CNN1 and activating Rho/ROCK1 signaling pathway. Conclusion: Overall, our results proved that miR-106b-5p promoted the metastasis of breast cancer by suppressing CNN1 and activating Rho/ROCK1 pathway. Methods: Bioinformatics analysis was performed to select the key gene in breast cancer. The overexpression and knockdown of Calponin 1 (CNN1) in breast cancer cell lines were performed to conduct cell viability, migrating, invasion, proliferation, adhesion, and apoptosis experiments. To identify the role of miR-106b-5p and Rho/ROCK1 in CNN1-induced breast cancer, a dual-luciferase assay, tumor lung metastasis assay, transcript half-life assay, and Rho/ROCK1 inhibition assay were performed.