MiR-15a-5p Inhibits Migration and Invasion of Ovarian Cancer Cells by Targeting PELP1

Background: Ovarian cancer is one of the most common malignancy of the female reproductive system. Hsa‐miR‐15a‐5p (miR‐15a-5p) has been reported with tumor‐suppressing roles in various cancers. This study aims to determine the role of miR-15a-5p during the progression of ovarian cancer. Methods: : We used bioinformatics, luciferase reporter assays, wound-healing, transwell invasion assays, quantitative Real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blot to dissect the molecular mechanism of how miR-15a-5p may cause metastasis in ovarian cancer. Results: : The upregulation of miR‐15a-5p inhibited growth, migration and invasion in ovarian cancer cells. Furthermore, miR-15a-5p suppressed epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) of ovarian cancer cell in vitro, evidenced by expression alteration of E‐cadherin and vimentin. Proline-, glutamic acid- and leucine-rich protein 1 (PELP1) was identified as the direct target of miR-15a-5p and downregulated by miR-15a-5p. The inhibitory effect of miR-15a-5p on migration, invasion and EMT was rescued by PELP1. Additionally, downregulation of PELP1 mimicked the suppressive impact of miR-15a-5p on ovarian carcinoma cells. Conclusions: : Our data indicated that miR-15a-5p inhibited migration, invasion and EMT of ovarian cancer cells by targeting PELP1, which might relate to the progression and metastasis of ovarian cancer.