Hsa-miR-1 downregulates long non-coding RNA urothelial cancer associated 1 in bladder cancer

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are known to mainly target protein-coding genes at post-transcriptional level, resulting in mRNA destabilization and/or translational repression. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are emerging as a novel set of targets for miRNAs. Here, we report that downregulated hsa-miR-1 and upregulated lncRNA urothelial cancer associated 1 (UCA1) were inversely expressed in bladder cancer. Hsa-miR-1 decreased the expression of UCA1 in bladder cancer cells in an Ago2-slicer-dependent manner. The binding site between UCA1 and hsa-miR-1 was confirmed. Overexpression of hsa-miR-1 inhibited bladder cancer cell growth, induced apoptosis, and decreased cell motility. Knockdown of UCA1 expression phenocopied the effects of upregulation of hsa-miR-1. Transfection of UCA1 expression vector partly reversed the changes caused by transfection of pre-miR-1 plasmids. This study provides evidence for hsa-miR-1 to play tumor suppressive roles via downregulating lncRNA UCA1 in bladder cancer, which may have potential therapeutic significance.