MiR-1202 promotes cell migration and tumor metastasis in gastric cancer cells

Abstract Introduction : Tumor metastasis significantly impacts the survival rate of gastric cancer (GC) patients. Increasing evidence has suggested that numerous microRNAs (miRNAs) are associated with tumor metastasis and could be potential candidate cancer biomarkers or therapeutic targets. Materials and Methods : Early GC cases were collected and divided into two groups according to the lymphatic metastasis (LM) situation. The microarray analysis was carried out to screen out differentially expressed miRNAs in the two groups, which were further evaluated by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The roles of miR-1202 on GC cells were determined through cell growth assay, cell migration assay in vitro and pulmonary metastasis assay in the mouse model. Bioinformatics analysis was used to explore the potential mechanisms of miR-1202-mediated biological effects. Results : MiR-1202 was first identified to be the most differentially expressed miRNA in GC patients with metastasis and those without metastasis. The overexpression of miR-1202 promoted GC cell migration in vivo whereas the knockdown of miR-1202 suppressed this process. However, miR-1202 did not affect GC cell growth or cell cycle distribution. The overexpression of miR-1202 promoted pulmonary metastasis and colonization after the tail-vein injection of GC cells. Pathways related to cell adhesion, collagen fibril organization, and positive regulation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade might be involved in miR-1202-mediated biological effects. Conclusion : Our results demonstrated a positive role of miR-1202 in regulating GC cell metastasis. MiR-1202 might be developed as a novel biomarker and a potential therapeutic target for GC metastasis.