Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2019. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Nov 14, 2019; 25(42): 6311-6321
Published online Nov 14, 2019. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v25.i42.6311
MicroRNA-30c inhibits pancreatic cancer cell proliferation by targeting twinfilin 1 and indicates a poor prognosis
Lu-Lu Sun, Ming Cheng, Xiao-Dong Xu
Lu-Lu Sun, Department of Ultrasonography, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450000, Henan Province, China
Ming Cheng, Department of Information, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450000, Henan Province, China
Xiao-Dong Xu, Department of Breast Surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450000, Henan Province, China
Author contributions: Sun LL and Xu XD designed the research and critically revised the manuscript for important intellectual content; Cheng M helped with the statistical analysis; all authors read and approved the final manuscript paper.
Supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China, No. 61802350.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Zhengzhou University.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: All procedures involving animals were reviewed and approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Zhengzhou University.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare no competing financial interests.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
ARRIVE guidelines statement: The manuscript was prepared and revised according to the ARRIVE guidelines.
Open-Access: This is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Xiao-Dong Xu, PhD, Professor, Department of Breast Surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, No. 1, Jianshe East Road, Zhengzhou 450000, Henan Province, China. tjxuxiaodong@163.com
Telephone: +86-371-66279162 Fax: +86-371-66279162
Received: August 19, 2019
Peer-review started: August 19, 2019
First decision: September 10, 2019
Revised: October 16, 2019
Accepted: November 1, 2019
Article in press: November 1, 2019
Published online: November 14, 2019
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most malignant gastrointestinal cancers worldwide. Current diagnostic methods and therapeutic strategies are very limited, and the prognosis of pancreatic cancer patients remains poor. To understand the molecular mechanisms of pancreatic cancer development is necessary and urgent. Little is known regarding miR-30c expression and its role in the progression of PDAC.

Research motivation

Our study will provide a new therapeutic target for pancreatic cancer.

Research objectives

To study the expression, role, and target gene of miR-30c in pancreatic cancer.

Research methods

We detected the expression levels of miR-30c and twinfilin 1 (TWF1) in Gene Expression Omnibus datasets and validated in clinical samples by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. The relationship of miR-30c expression with clinicopathological factors of pancreatic cancer patients was analyzed. The effect and mechanism miR-30c on pancreatic cancer cell proliferation were investigated in vitro and in vivo. Assays were performed to explore potential target gene TWF1 of miR-30c in pancreatic cancer.

Research results

In the present study, we found that miR-30c was downregulated and associated with a poor prognosis in pancreatic cancer patients. We showed that re-expression of miR-30c reduced pancreatic cancer cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo by targeting TWF1. Meanwhile, overexpression of TWF1 abolished the effects of miR-30c in pancreatic cancer.

Research conclusions

MiR-30c is downregulated and promotes the proliferation of pancreatic cancer cells by targeting TWF1. Overexpression of TWF1 abolishes the effects of miR-30c.

Research perspectives

This study provides insight into the role of miR-30c in promoting pancreatic cancer development by targeting TWF1. MiR-30c might be a new therapeutic target for pancreatic cancer.