The tumor‐suppressive function of miR‐1 by targeting LASP1 and TAGLN2 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract Objective This study determined the expression of microRNA‐1 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) tissue and cell lines to evaluate its effects on clinicopathological parameters and its target genes LASP1 and TAGLN2. Methods The expression of miR‐1, lasp1, and tagln2 was detected in 55 ESCC tissues and adjacent normal tissues by reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR). The association between miR‐1, lasp1, and tagln2 expression and clinicopathological characteristics was observed. MicroRNA‐1 (mimics‐miR‐1) and its inhibitor (Inhibitor‐miR‐1) were transfected into esophageal cancer cells KYSE 510 and Eca 109; cell proliferation, migration, and invasion assays were carried out. Plasmid construction and dual‐luciferase reporter assay were also carried out to indicate whether LASP1 and TAGLN2 were miR‐1 target genes. The expression of LASP1 and TAGLN2 was detected with Western blot methods in cell lines, by immunohistochemistry in ESCC tissue. Results The gene expression level of microRNA‐1 in cancer tissues was significantly lower than that in adjacent normal tissues ( P < 0.01). The expression of miR‐1 in ESCC was correlated with involvement of lymph nodes ( P = 0.002), histologic classification ( P = 0.000), and vessel invasion ( P = 0.022). The expression of lasp1 and tagln2 increased in cancer tissues compared with in adjacent normal tissues ( P < 0.05). MiR‐1 suppresses the cell growth, migration, and invasion in vitro. The expression of LASP1 and TAGLN2 decreased in mimics‐miR‐1 transfected cells, and increased in inhibitor‐miR‐1 transfected cells. Luciferase reporter assay confirmed that LASP1 and TAGLN2 mRNA actually had the target sites of miR‐1. Conclusions miR‐1 suppresses cell proliferation, invasiveness, metastasis, and progression of ESCC by binding its targeted genes LASP1 and TAGLN2.