Autophagy promotes malignant migration and invasion via miR-224-5p/BCL2 in pancreatic mucinous cystadenocarcinoma MCC1 cells

The prognosis of invasive pancreatic mucinous cystadenocarcinoma (MCC) is poor, and the molecular mechanism underlying its development remains unclear. The present study aimed to explore the potential role of autophagy in pancreatic MCC. The results demonstrated an increase in autophagy signaling in pancreatic MCC tissues and the MCC1 cell line compared with adjacent tissues and normal human pancreatic ductal epithelium (HPDE) cells. In addition, abnormal autophagy activation facilitated the migration and invasion of MCC1 cells. MicroRNA (miR)-224-5p expression levels were significantly higher in MCC1 cells compared with those in HPDE cells. Treatment with rapamycin further demonstrated that high levels of autophagy elevated miR-224-5p expression in MCC1 cells in a time-dependent manner. BCL2 was identified as a downstream target gene of miR-224-5p, which binds to the 3′-untranslated region of BCL2. In addition, the results of the present study demonstrated that BCL2 knockdown reversed the inhibition of autophagy mediated by the miR-224-5p inhibitor. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate the role of autophagy in pancreatic MCC. Thus, these results suggested that autophagy may be hyperactivated in pancreatic MCC. In addition, the present study identified a positive feedback loop between autophagy signaling and miR-224-5p, which may promote the aggressive migration and invasion of MCC1. These results may provide a new insight into the relationship between autophagy and tumor metastasis in pancreatic MCC.