Open Access

ARTICLE

MicroRNA-520b Suppresses Proliferation, Migration, and Invasion of Spinal Osteosarcoma Cells via Downregulation of Frizzled-8

Jin Wang^*, Wenquan Pang^*, Zhenbai Zuo^*, Wenyan Zhang^*, Weidong He^†

* Department of Spinal Surgery, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao, P.R. China
† Department of Nutriology, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao, P.R. China

Oncology Research 2017, 25(8), 1297-1304. https://doi.org/10.3727/096504017X14873430389189

Abstract

Spinal osteosarcoma (OS) is a malignant tumor that has a poor outcome. MicroRNA-520b (miR-520b) acts as a cancer suppressor in various types of cancer. Because of the limited amount of literature on OS, we aimed to identify the role of miR-520b in OS. The miR-520b level in clinical spinal OS tissues and adjacent nontumor tissues as well as in cell lines was assessed. The effect of miR-520b on cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and frizzled-8 (FZD8) degradation were all evaluated. Alterations of key proteins involved in the Wnt/b-catenin pathway were assessed by Western blot analysis. In the present study, miR-520b was downregulated in human spinal OS tissues and OS cell lines (p<0.01 or p<0.001). Overexpression of miR-520b inhibited cell proliferation (p<0.01 or p<0.001), migration (p<0.01), and invasion (p<0.01). FZD8 expression was negatively regulated by infection with a lentivirus vector carrying an miR-520b precursor in dose- and time-dependent manners. In OS tissues, miR-520b was inversely correlated with FZD8 expression. FZD8 was upregulated in human spinal OS tissues and cell lines. Finally, miR-520b inactivated the Wnt/β-catenin pathway through downregulation of FZD8. miR-520b inhibited cell proliferation, migration, and invasion through inactivating the Wnt/β-catenin pathway by downregulation of FZD8, providing a novel therapeutic target for spinal OS.

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Keywords

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