Tumor suppressive microRNA-485-5p targets PRRX1 in human skin melanoma cells, regulating epithelial-mesenchymal transition and apoptosis

Melanoma is one of the most aggressive skin cancers. Existing evidence has reported the aberrant expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) in melanoma, but their putative targets and underlying downstream effects remain to be further understood. Herein, we explored the suppressive role of miR-485-5p in melanoma progression. Initial bioinformatics analyses showed that the PRRX1 gene was differentially expressed in melanoma, while miR-485-5p was predicted to be a potential regulatory miRNA binding to PRRX1 mRNA. We confirmed that PRRX1 was upregulated, while miR-485-5p was downregulated in human melanoma samples compared with adjacent normal skin tissues. We then showed that PRRX1 was a target gene of miR-485-5p by dual-luciferase reporter gene assay. Moreover, a reduction in the expression of PRRX1 and downregulation of important proteins of the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF beta) signaling pathway was observed after miR-485-5p overexpression. Furthermore, miR-485-5p overexpression or PRRX1 knockdown suppressed epithelial-mesenchymal transition, cell viability, migration, and invasion, and promoted cell apoptosis in melanoma cells. Our study demonstrates the tumor-suppressive functions of miR-485-5p in the development of human melanoma, providing a potential target for therapy.