miR-1 Inhibits Cell Growth, Migration, and Invasion by Targeting VEGFA in Osteosarcoma Cells

Abstract EN

microRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs and have been shown to play a crucial role in the osteosarcoma (OS) tumorigenesis and progression.

VEGFA is a key regulator of angiogenesis and plays an important role in regulation of tumor metastasis.

The objective of this study was to determine whether VEGFA was involved in miR-1-mediated suppression of proliferation, migration, and invasion of OS cells.

The expression levels of miR-1 were significantly lower in OS tumor tissues than those in adjacent normal tissues and in SAOS-2 and U2OS cell lines compared to a normal osteoblast (NHOst) cell line.

VEGFA was upregulated in OS tumor tissues and SAOS-2 and U2OS cell lines.

The results of CCK-8 assay and transwell assay showed that miR-1 acted as a tumor suppressor by inhibiting cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in U2OS cells.

Dual luciferase reporter assay demonstrated that VEGFA was a direct and functional target gene of miR-1.

miR-1 directly inhibits the protein expression of VEGFA via its 3′-UTR.

Knockdown of VEGFA by siRNA inhibited proliferation, migration, and invasion of U2OS cells.

Our study suggested the potential inhibitory function of miR-1 in OS cell proliferation, migration, and invasion via inhibiting VEGFA.