MiR-320d suppresses the progression of breast cancer via lncRNA HNF1A-AS1 regulation and SOX4 inhibition

MicroRNA-320d (miR-320d) is a novel cancer-related miRNA and functions as a tumor suppressor in human cancers. However, the expression pattern and function of miR-320d in breast cancer remain largely unknown. In the present study, we found that the expression level of miR-320d in breast cancer tissues and cells was significantly lower than in non-tumor tissues and MCF-10A cells. Decreased miR-320d was associated with poor overall survival in patients with breast cancer. Overexpression of miR-320d inhibited proliferation, migration, and invasion and promoted apoptosis of breast cancer cells. In addition, the long non-coding RNA, HNF1A antisense RNA 1 (HNF1A-AS1) was up-regulated in both breast cancer tissues and cell lines. HNF1A-AS1 suppressed the expression and function of miR-320d. Moreover, SRY-related HMG-box 4 (SOX4) was speculated and confirmed as a target of miR-320d. We also demonstrated that HNF1A-AS1 may function as a sponge competitive endogenous RNA for miR-320d, and thus regulate the expression of SOX4. Taken together, our study has identified a novel signaling pathway through which miR-320d exerts its anti-carcinogenic roles and suggested that the HNF1A-AS1/miR-320d/SOX4 may be a potential target for the therapy of breast cancer.