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MicroRNA-429 inhibits the proliferation and migration of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cells by targeting RAB23 through the NF-κB pathway.

OBJECTIVE
Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is the main type of esophageal cancer and is a devastating malignancy. Recent research shows that microRNA-429 (miR-429) has a role in suppressing cell proliferation, cell cycle and promoting apoptosis in many cancers. This study aims to explore the great role of miR-429 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.


MATERIAL AND METHODS
The mRNA and protein levels of miR-429 and genes were calculated by using Real Time-quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-qPCR) and Western blot. We applied Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) and transwell assays to measure the proliferative and migratory abilities. Meanwhile, the Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate the overall survival of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients.


RESULTS
MiR-429 was downregulated while RAB23 was upregulated in ESCC tissues and cell lines, and downregulation of miR-429 predicted poor prognosis in ESCC. RAB23 was found to be a direct target gene of miR-429 and its expression was regulated by miR-429 in ESCC. Moreover, miR-429 inhibited the proliferation through nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) pathway and inhibited cell migration-mediated epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in TE-2 cells. In addition, overexpression of miR-429 suppressed tumor growth of ESCC in vivo.


CONCLUSIONS
MiR-429 inhibited the proliferation through the RAB23/NF-κB pathway and the migration-mediated EMT in ESCC. The newly identified miR-429/RAB23 axis provides novel insight into the pathogenesis of ESCC.