microRNA-144-3p suppresses human neuroblastoma cell proliferation by targeting HOXA7

OBJECTIVE: Dysregulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) expression often resulted in abnormal cell behaviors. It has been demonstrated that miRs may serve as oncogenic or tumor suppressive functions in tumor. We investigated whether or not miR-144-3p has a role in the progression of human neuroblastoma (NB). PATIENTS AND METHODS: 46 NB patients were enrolled in this study. miR-144-3p expression in NB tissues and cell lines was detected by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The biological functions of miR-144-3p in NB were detected by cell counting kit-8 assay, flow cytometry assay, and wound-healing assay. Luciferase activity assay and Western blot assay were performed to validate the direct targets of miR-144-3p. RESULTS: We found miR-144-3p expression was reduced in NB tissues and cell lines and resulted in the stimulation of cell proliferation, cell cycle progression. and cell migration in vitro. Furthermore, we validated homeobox protein A7 (HOXA7) as a direct target of miR-144-3p. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, these results demonstrated the tumor suppressive role of miR-144-3p in NB and may advance the understanding of the underlying mechanisms of miR-144-3p and HOXA7 in NB.