miR-93 inhibits the invasive potential of triple-negative breast cancer cells in vitro via protein kinase WNK1

Despite advances in treatment, the highly metastatic nature of breast tumors has given rise to the urgent need for development of novel therapeutic and prognostic markers. miR-93 is known to regulate the epithelial to mesenchymal transition process and to influence metastatic spread in breast carcinoma, although the exact mechanism(s)/genes involved remain unknown. In the present study, we examined the role of miR-93 in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. Overexpression of mature miR-93-5p in MDA-MB-231 cells decreased cell migratory capability and invasive potential, as well as increased adhesion. In contrast, inhibition of miR-93 induced the opposite effects. miRNA-mRNA target prediction (TargetScan) identified WNK lysine deficient protein kinase 1 (WNK1), which is known to interact with diverse signaling pathways and regulate cell proliferation, survival, angiogenesis and metastasis, as one of the potential targets of miR-93. Furthermore, we showed by luciferase assay that WNK1 is a putative miR-93 target. siRNA mediated silencing of WNK1 also decreased the invasive ability of the cells, suggesting that the effects of miR-93 may be attributed at least in part to decreased WNK1 expression. Further in vivo studies are required to ascertain the miR-93-WNK1-metastasis cascade, that has potential implications in breast cancer therapy.