Aberrant expression of microRNA-876-5p (miR-876-5p) is implicated in the progression of multiple human cancers. However, the potential role of miR-876-5p in colorectal cancer remains poorly understood. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the potential role of miR-876-5p in colorectal cancer. miR-876-5p expression was significantly downregulated in colorectal cancer tissues and cell lines compared with normal controls. Gain-of-function assays revealed that miR-876-5p overexpression effectively repressed the malignant behaviours of colorectal cancer cells, including cell proliferation, colony formation, and invasion. Bioinformatics analysis predicted that RAS protein activator like 2 (RASAL2), a potential oncogene for colorectal cancer, is a putative miR-876-5p target gene. A luciferase reporter assay confirmed that miR-876-5p directly binds to the 3'-untranslated region (UTR) of RASAL2. Furthermore, both RASAL2 messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein expression were negatively modulated by miR-876-5p in colorectal cancer cells. Notably, there was an inverse correlation between miR-876-5p and RASAL2 expression in colorectal cancer tissue specimens. Moreover, miR-876-5p was involved in regulating the activation of Yes-associated protein (YAP) signalling through inhibiting RASAL2. However, the miR-876-5p-mediated antitumour effect on colorectal cancer cells was partially reversed by restoring RASAL2 expression. Notably, miR-876-5p upregulation impeded the tumour growth of colorectal cancer cells in vivo in nude mice. Overall, these results demonstrated that miR-876-5p exerts an antitumour function in colorectal cancer by targeting RASAL2 to suppress YAP signalling activation. These findings highlight the importance of the miR-876-5p/RASAL2/YAP axis in colorectal cancer progression and suggest that miR-876-5p is a potential therapeutic target for treating colorectal cancer.
Keywords: RAS protein activator like 2; Yes-associated protein; colorectal cancer; miR-876-5p.
© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.