miR-17-5p promotes the invasion and migration of colorectal cancer by regulating HSPB2

MicroRNA (miRNA) can affect tumor progression by regulating cell proliferation, apoptosis and metastasis. A significant upregulation of miR-17-5p expression was found in colorectal cancer (CRC) tissues by miRNA microarray chip analysis. However, the underlying mechanism of miR-17-5p in CRC is still unclear. The mRNA expression of miR-17-5p was significantly higher in CRC tissues than in adjacent normal tissues. In CRC group, the expression of miR-17-5p in cancer tissues with lymph node metastasis was higher compared with those without lymph node metastasis. The biological function of miR-17-5p was demonstrated through CCK-8, colony formation, flow cytometry and transwell assays. Overexpression of miR-17-5p inhibited CRC cell apoptosis, as well as promoting proliferation, migration and invasion. Transcriptome sequencing and miRNA target prediction software suggested that HSPB2 might be a target gene of miR-17-5p and luciferase reporter detection validated for the first time that miR-17-5p binds directly to the 3'-UTR of HSPB2. In the rescue experiment, the tumor suppressive effect of HSPB2 was detected and miR-17-5p could promote cell proliferation, migration and invasion by targeting HSPB2. Taken together, miR-17-5p promotes invasion and migration by inhibiting HSPB2 in CRC, thereby implicating its potential as a novel diagnostic biomarker and therapeutic target for CRC.