MicroRNA-487b-3p inhibits osteosarcoma chemoresistance and metastasis by targeting ALDH1A3

Abstract

Metastasis and chemoresistance indicate poor prognosis in patients with osteosarcoma (OS). In the present study, the expression level of microRNA(miR)-487b-3p in OS specimens and cell lines was found to be decreased, and the expression level of miR-487b-3p was associated with overall survival in patients with OS. The inhibition of miR-487b-3p stimulated OS cell migration and contributed to the development of chemoresistance. In contrast, the overexpression of miR-487b-3p significantly inhibited OS cell migration and enhanced the sensitivity of OS cells to doxorubicin treatment. In addition, the results from the present study revealed that the suppression of miR-487b-3p stimulates OS stemness, while the overexpression of miR-487b-3p suppresses OS stemness. Notably, in vivo experiments also revealed that the overexpression of miR-487b-3p inhibited cancer stem cell (CSC)-induced tumor formation, and the combination treatment of miR-487b-3p and doxorubicin significantly inhibited CSC-induced tumor growth. Furthermore, miR-487b-3p exerts its anticancer role by targeting aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 family member A3 in OS. Taken together, the results from the present study suggests that miR-487b-3p is a tumor suppressor and that the overexpression of miR-487b-3p is a novel strategy to inhibit tumor metastasis and chemoresistance in OS.