MicroRNA-603 Promotes Progression of Cutaneous Melanoma by Regulating TBX5

Abstract

Background. Although studies manifested that microRNA-603 plays a vital role in many cancers, the modulatory mechanism of microRNA-603 in cutaneous melanoma remains unknown. We aimed to investigate the roles of microRNA-603 in cutaneous melanoma cells. Methods. First, microRNA-603 expression in cutaneous melanoma cell lines was detected by qRT-PCR. The mRNA and protein expression levels of TBX5 in cutaneous melanoma cell lines were tested by qRT-PCR and western blot, respectively. In addition, the interaction between microRNA-603 and TBX5 was determined by dual-luciferase reporter gene assay, and their impacts on the growth of cutaneous melanoma cells were detected by cellular function experiments such as MTT, colony formation, and Transwell assays. Results. The expression level of microRNA-603 in human cutaneous melanoma cells was relatively upregulated. Overexpressing microRNA-603 could promote progression of cutaneous melanoma cells, while silencing microRNA-603 expression could suppress the malignant progression of cutaneous melanoma. In addition, TBX5 was lowly expressed in cutaneous melanoma cells. As confirmed by dual-luciferase assay, microRNA-603 could specifically bind to 3 ${}^{\prime }$ UTR of TBX5 and regulate TBX5. The results of the rescue experiment demonstrated that inhibiting microRNA-603 expression could suppress the proliferation, migration, and invasion of cutaneous melanoma cells, but its suppressive effect could be restored by TBX5. Conclusion. MicroRNA-603 could regulate the expression of TBX5, thus promoting the malignant progression of cutaneous melanoma cells.