The interaction of long non-coding RNA MIAT and miR-133 play a role in the proliferation and metastasis of pancreatic carcinoma

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is one of the most aggressive malignancies in humans. Despite advances in early detection and treatment of PC, the prognosis is still limited. LncRNA myocardial infarction–associated transcript (MIAT) is found abnormally expressed in a variety of cancers. However, the role of MIAT in PC is still unknown. This study aimed to explore whether MIAT was related to the progression of PC and the underlying mechanism. Bioinformatics analysis and luciferase reporter assay validated that miR-133 may target MIAT 3′-UTR. MIAT expression was found remarkably increased and miR-133 expression was significantly decreased in PC tissues and PC cell lines (PATU-8988, BxPC-3, PANC-1, SW1990 and AsPC-1 cells). PC patients with high MIAT level had poor prognosis than that with low MITA level. Besides that, PATU-8988 cells transfected with siMIAT and/or miR-133 inhibitor. The results exhibited that the inhibition of miR-133 expression reversed the inhibition effect of MIAT down-regulation in the growth, migration and invasion of PC cells. Moreover, tumor growth was tremendously suppressed in nude rats received injection of PATU-8988 cells transfected with siMIAT. Taken together, our results suggest that the interaction of MIAT and miR-133 play a role in the proliferation and metastasis of pancreatic carcinoma.