MiR-105-3p acts as an oncogene to promote the proliferation and metastasis of breast cancer cells by targeting GOLIM4

BACKGROUND: Dysregulated miRNAs are involved in carcinogenesis of the breast and may be used as prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets during the cancer process. The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of miR-105-3p on the tumourigenicity of breast cancer and its underlying molecular mechanisms. METHODS: Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was applied to detect the expression of miR-105-3p in breast cancer tissues and cell lines. The impacts of miR-105-3p on the proliferation, migration, invasion and apoptosis of human breast cancer cells (MCF-7 and ZR-75-30) were evaluated by CCK-8 assays, Transwell chamber assays, TUNEL assays and western blot analyses. In addition, bioinformatics and luciferase reporter assays were used to determine the target genes of miR-105-3p. RESULTS: The expression of miR-105-3p was elevated in breast cancer tissues and increased with tumour severity. Downregulation of miR-105-3p could inhibit cell proliferation, suppress cell migration/invasion, and promote cell apoptosis in MCF-7 and ZR-75-30 cells. Furthermore, Golgi integral membrane protein 4 (GOLIM4) was identified as the direct target gene of miR-105-3p by bioinformatics and luciferase reporter assays. In addition, silencing GOLIM4 restored the anti-breast cancer effects induced by miR-105-3p downregulation. CONCLUSIONS: MiR-105-3p acts as an oncogene to promote the proliferation and metastasis of breast cancer cells by targeting GOLIM4, which provides a new target for the prevention and treatment of breast cancer. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12885-021-07909-2.