Tumor-suppressor miRNA-27b-5p regulates the growth and metastatic behaviors of ovarian carcinoma cells by targeting CXCL1

BACKGROUND: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play crucial functions in the progression of ovarian cancer. MicroRNA-27b-5p (miR-27b-5p) has been identified as a cancer-associated miRNA. Nevertheless, the expression profile of miR-27b-5p and its functions in ovarian cancer are unexplored. METHODS: qRT-PCR and western blot analysis were used to detect the levels of miR-27b-5p and C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 1 (CXCL1). The impact of miR-27b-5p on ovarian cancer cells proliferation, migration and invasion in vitro were investigated using Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK8), wound healing and Transwell, respectively. The expression of matrix metalloprotein-2/9 (MMP-2/9) were measured using immunofluorescence staining. Bioinformatics and luciferase reporter analysis were used to predict the target of miR-27b-5p. The growth of ovarian cancer cells in vivo was evaluated using transplanted tumor model. RESULTS: Here, we demonstrated that miR-27b-5p was downregulated in ovarian carcinoma cells and clinical specimens. Higher expression of miR-27b-5p was associated with an unfavorable overall survival in patients with ovarian cancer. Upregulation of miR-27b-5p decreased the viability, migration ability and invasion capacity of SKOV3 and OVCAR3 cell. MiR-27b-5p also inhibited the growth of SKOV3 cell in nude mice. Additionally, we verified that CXCL1 was a target of miR-27b-5p in ovarian carcinoma cells. Restoring the expression of CXCL1 abolished the inhibitory impacts of miR-27b-5p in ovarian cancer carcinoma cells. CONCLUSION: This research revealed that miR-27b-5p restrained the progression of ovarian carcinoma possibly via targeting CXCL1.