miR-204 regulates HMGA2 to suppress the proliferation and promote the apoptosis of esophageal squamous carcinoma cells

Objective: To investigate the role of miR-204 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and to determine the potential molecular mechanisms underlying its action. Methods: miR-204 expression in ESCC tissues and cell lines was detected through qRT-PCR. The targeted regulation of miR-204 on the target gene HMGA2 was verified through dual-luciferase reporter genes. Meanwhile, the effect of the miR-204/HMGA2 axis on ESCC cells was investigated through cell CCK-8 assay and flow cytometry. Results: miR-204 expression in ESCC tissues was markedly lower than that in para-carcinoma tissues and low miR-204 expression was closely correlated with the lymph node metastasis and tumor stage of ESCC patients. Moreover, miR-204 expression in human ESCC cell lines TE-13, Eca-109, KYSE-410 and EC9706 was notably lower than that in normal human esophageal cell line Het-1A. miR-204 could bind with the binding site at the 3' UTR of HMGA2, thus markedly down-regulating the luciferase activity. Up-regulating miR-204 expression in KYSE-410 cells could remarkably down-regulate the HMGA2 mRNA and protein expression, suppress the cell proliferation activity, and promote cell apoptosis. In addition, Up-regulating HMGA2 expression could reverse these effects. Conclusion: miR-204 expression is abnormally down-regulated in ESCC, and miR-204 overexpression can suppress the proliferation and promote the apoptosis of ESCC cells, the mechanism of which may be related to the targeted regulation on HMGA2.