MiR-32 promotes tumorigenesis of colorectal cancer by targeting BMP5

MiRNA regulation is a crucial way of epigenetic changes. Mir-32 has been reported in several studies as an oncogene, however, its role and target in colorectal cancer (CRC) remains unclear. In this study, we aimed to explore the role of miR-32 in CRC using bioinformatic analysis and functional assays. We collected 28 pairs of CRC tumor tissues and adjacent normal tissues and confirmed miR-32 was significantly upregulated in CRC. Expression and clinical data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) identified miR-32 expression is associated with CRC lymphatic invasion, metastasis, and correlates with patients' poor survival. Functional studies demonstrated that overexpression of miR-32 in LoVo cells promoted cell proliferation and migration, whereas inhibition of miR-32 in HCT 116 cells showed the opposite results. Using bioinformatics, we identified Bone morphogenetic protein 5 (BMP5) is a direct target of miR-32, and loss of tumor suppressor BMP5 may partially due to the miR-32 dysregulation. The inverse correlation between miR-32 and BMP5 was observed in CRC, especially in advanced tumor patients. Moreover, cotransfection of miR-32 mimics and BMP5 recombinant vector in LoVo cells demonstrated that BMP5 could reverse the oncomir effect of miR-32. Taken together, our results suggested a significant role of miR-32/BMP5 axis in CRC tumorigenesis.