MicroRNA-18a induces epithelial-mesenchymal transition like cancer stem cell phenotype via regulating RKIP pathway in pancreatic cancer

BACKGROUND: Pancreatic cancer is a devastating invasive disease. Understanding the molecular mechanism of metastasis of this cancer is basis for its treatment and prevention. METHODS: Pancreatic cancer tissues and normal adjacent tissues were collected from patients tour hospital. Western blotting and a sphere growth and invasion assay were performed to conduct analysis. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cell Line PANC-1 were cultured. To test the level of Raf-1 kinase inhibitor protein (RKIP), immunofluorescence analyses were performed. RESULTS: In this study, we showed that expression of RKIP was downregulated in pancreatic cancer. RKIP can inhibit epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) in PANC-1 cells. MicroRNA-181a (miR-181a) has a high expression in pancreatic cancer and can induce EMT phenotype by directly degrading RKIP in pancreatic cancer PANC-1 cells. CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that miR-181a induces EMT phenotype through its regulation of RKIP in pancreatic cancer. MicroRNA-18a may be a novel target in the treatment of pancreatic cancer in future.