MicroRNA-320a inhibits breast cancer metastasis by targeting metadherin

Dysregulated microRNAs play important pathological roles in carcinogenesis that are yet to be fully elucidated. This study was performed to investigate the biological functions of microRNA-320a (miR-320a) in breast cancer and the underlying mechanisms. Function analyses for cell proliferation, cell cycle, and cell invasion/migration, were conducted after miR-320a silencing and overexpression. The specific target genes of miR-320a were predicted by TargetScan algorithm and then determined by dual luciferase reporter assay and rescue experiment. The relationship between miR-320a and its target genes was explored in human breast cancer tissues. We found that miR-320a overexpression could inhibit breast cancer invasion and migration abilities in vitro, while miR-320a silencing could enhance that. In addition, miR-320a could suppress activity of 3'-untranslated region luciferase of metadherin (MTDH), a potent oncogene. The rescue experiment revealed that MTDH was a functional target of miR-320a. Moreover, we found that MTDH was negatively correlated with miR-320a expression, and it was related to clinical outcomes of breast cancer. Further xenograft experiment also showed that miR-320a could inhibit breast cancer metastasis in vivo. Our findings clearly demonstrate that miR-320a suppresses breast cancer metastasis by directly inhibiting MTDH expression. The present study provides a new insight into anti-oncogenic roles of miR-320a and suggests that miR-320a/MTDH pathway is a putative therapeutic target in breast cancer.