MiRNA-27a promotes the proliferation and inhibits apoptosis of human pancreatic cancer cells by Wnt/β-catenin pathway

Abstract

A specific expression of miRNA in pancreatic cancer renders it the novel diagnostic marker of pancreatic cancer. Therefore, we investigated how the anticancer effect of miRNA-27a suppressed cell growth and induced apoptosis of human pancreatic cancer cells. We upregulated miRNA-27a expression in PANC-1 cells using miRNA-27a mimic, which demonstrated that induction of cell growth and suppression of apoptosis of human pancreatic cancer cells were observed. However, anti-miRNA-27a inhibited cell growth and apoptosis in pancreatic cancer cells. The downregulation of miRNA-27a suppressed Wnt/β-catenin pathway. The inhibition of Wnt/β-catenin pathway increased the anticancer effects of anti-miRNA-27a on human pancreatic cancer cells. Taken together, miRNA-27a promotes the proliferation and inhibits apoptosis of human pancreatic cancer cells via Wnt/β-catenin pathway.