miR-325-3p Promotes the Proliferation, Invasion, and EMT of Breast Cancer Cells by Directly Targeting S100A2

Abstract

This study was designed to investigate the precise mechanisms of miR-325-3p/S100A2 axis in breast cancer (BC). In this study, we found that the level of miR-325-3p was dramatically increased in BC tissues and cell lines, and the expression of S100A2 was significantly decreased. Also, the high level of miR-325-3p was closely associated with low expression of S100A2 in BC tissues. Moreover, introduction of miR-325-3p significantly promoted proliferation, invasion, and EMT of BC cells. Bioinformatics analysis predicted that the S100A2 was a potential target gene of miR-325-3p. Luciferase reporter assay demonstrated that miR-325-3p could directly target S100A2. In addition, miR-325-3p overexpression had similar effects with knockdown of S100A2 on BC cells. Overexpression of S100A2 in BC cells partially reversed the promoted effects of miR-325-3p mimic. Overexpression of miR-325-3p promoted cell proliferation, invasion, and EMT of BC cells by directly downregulating S100A2 expression.