miR-544a Promotes Breast Cancer Cell Migration and Invasion Reducing Cadherin 1 Expression

Accumulating evidence has reported the significant role of miRNAs in the underlying biology of tumors, including breast cancer. The purpose for this study was to investigate the potential effects of miR-544a in breast cancer migration and invasion. The human normal breast Hs578Bst cells and the human breast cancer MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells were used to analyze the expression of miR-544a by RT-PCR. The effects of miR-544a on the two kinds of breast cancer cell migration and invasion were analyzed using the Matrigel and Transwell assay, respectively. miR-544a expression on the cell metastasis-related protein expression was also analyzed using Western blotting. Compared to the normal Hs578Bst cells, miR-544a was significantly downregulated in MCF-7 cells but was upregulated in MDA-MB-231 cells (p < 0.01). The overexpressed miR-544a significantly promotes the migrated and invaded MCF-7 cells (p < 0.05), which was opposite to that in MCA-MB-231 cells (p < 0.05). Moreover, the cadherin 1 (CDH1) expression was negatively correlated to miR-544a expression in the two kinds of cells. Our study suggested that the overexpressed miR-544a may be a promoter for breast cancer migration and invasion by targeting CDH1.