miR-27a promotes proliferation, migration, and invasion of colorectal cancer by targeting FAM172A and acts as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker

Accumulating evidence shows that mircroRNAs (miRNAs) play a crucial role in the development of colorectal cancer. In our previous study, FAM172A was demonstrated to be a novel tumor suppressor gene in CRC. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to identify whether the miR-27a could be a diagnostic and prognostic marker and the regulatory relationships between miR-27a and FAM172A. We demonstrated high levels of miR-27a expression in tissues of patients with CRC as well as in CRC cell lines. There was a positive correlation between the levels of miR-27a and the poor overall survival of patients with CRC. Furthermore, elevated levels of miR-27a expression were associated with TNM stage and distant metastasis. Increased expression or inhibition of miR-27a promoted or inhibited the metastasis of CRC cell lines, respectively. Moreover, we showed that miR-27a directly targets the 3(1)untranslated region of FAM172A mRNA by using, a dual-luciferase assay. Increased or decreased expression of FAM172A expression was observed when miR-27a expression was inhibited or elevated in the CRC cells, respectively. In summary, our study showed that miR-27a expression is a diagnostic and prognostic marker and correlates with overall survival of patients with CRC. Therefore, it may be a therapeutic approach for preventing metastasis of CRC to inhibit expression of miR-27a or increase expression of FAM172A.