MicroRNA-506-3p inhibits colorectal cancer cell proliferation through targeting enhancer of zeste homologue 2

A large number of studies have shown that microRNA (miRNA) has an important relationship with the occurrence and development of colorectal cancer (CRC), but its specific molecular mechanism has not been fully elucidated. This study is to explore the influence of miR-506-3p on the malignant behavior of CRC and its underlying molecular mechanism. Our results show that miR-506-3p was lowly expressed and enhancer of zeste homologue 2 (EZH2) was highly expressed in CRC. Overexpressing miR-506-3p or silencing EZH2 inhibited CRC cell proliferation, migration and invasion and promoted apoptosis. Inhibiting miR-506-3p promoted CRC cell proliferation, migration and invasion but inhibited apoptosis. These impacts were reversed after co-transfecting si-EZH2. Further mechanism studies have shown that miR-506-3p can reduce EZH2 expression in CRC cells by binding to the 3ʹUTR end of EZH2. In summary, the results of this study show that miR-506-3p inhibited CRC progression through targeting EZH2 expression. This provides a new molecular target for the clinical treatment of CRC in the future.