MicroRNA-95-3p promoted the development of prostatic cancer via regulating DKK3 and activating Wnt/β-catenin pathway

M. Xi, L. Cheng, W. Hua, Y.-L. Zhou, Q.-L. Gao, J.-X. Yang, S.-Y. Qi

Department of Urology, Huadu District People’s Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China. yongshiqi@126.com

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• Oncology

OBJECTIVE: Previous studies have shown that microRNA-95-3p (miR-95-3p) plays a crucial role in multiple human cancers except for prostatic cancer (PCa). Therefore, the function of miR-95-3p was investigated in PCa in the present work.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: The expression of miR-95-3p was measured by Real Time-quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-qPCR) assay. Western blot assay was used to examine the protein expression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers. In addition, the function of miR-95-3p was detected through MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) and transwell assays. Dual Luciferase assay was applied to confirm the relationship between miR-95-3p and dickkopf-3 (DKK3). The tumor growth was observed through xenograft tumor formation assay.

RESULTS: The upregulation of miR-95-3p was detected in PCa tissues and cell lines, which predicted poor prognosis of PCa patients. Moreover, miR-95-3p promoted cell proliferation, migration and invasion in PCa by targeting DKK3 and activating the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. MiR-95-3p also promoted the tumor growth of PCa in vivo. Besides that, downregulation of DKK3 was identified in PCa and low DKK3 expression predicted poor prognosis of PCa patients.

CONCLUSIONS: MiR-95-3p promoted the development of PCa via targeting DKK3 and activating the Wnt/β-catenin pathway.

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