MiR-337-3p inhibits gastric tumor metastasis by targeting ARHGAP10

Abstract

Several micrornas (mirnas) are known as regulatory molecules involved in gastric tumor metastasis. The expression of mir-337-3p was revealed to be downregulated in metastatic gastric tumor cells. overexpression of mir-337-3p in gastric cancer cells resulted in the reduction of their invasive abilities. To characterize the functions of mir-337-3p, mir-337-3p was expressed in a metastatic lymph node-derived gastric tumor cell line, SGc-7901. overexpression of mir-337-3p reduced the viability of cells but had no effects on the cell cycle. Wound healing and Transwell migration assays revealed that mir-337-3p inhibited the migration capacity of cells. mir-337-3p was capable of binding to the 3'-untranslated region of a cytoskeleton-associated molecule, arHGaP10. overexpression of mir-337-3p reduced the mrna and protein levels of arHGaP10 and the co-expression of arHGaP10 and mir-337-3p resulted in the recovery of cell migration capacity. Furthermore, the injection of mir-337-3p-overexpressing SGC-7901 cells into an immunodeficient mouse model resulted in a decrease in tumor metastasis in the liver and lungs. The present results indicated that mir-337-3p regulates gastric tumor metastasis by targeting the cytoskeleton-associated protein arHGaP10.