MicroRNA‑873 inhibits the progression of thyroid cancer by directly targeting ZEB1

Recent evidence has revealed that certain microRNAs (miRNAs) are dysregulated in thyroid cancer (TC), which has been associated with the pathogenesis and development of TC. Therefore, improved understanding of the detailed roles of miRNAs that are aberrantly expressed in TC may aid the development of valuable therapeutic methods for the management of patients with this malignancy. In this study, miRNA‑873‑5p (miR‑873) expression in TC tissues and cell lines was detected by reverse‑transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT‑qPCR). MTT and cell invasion assays were performed to investigate the effects of miR‑873 overexpression on TC cell proliferation and invasion in vitro. Bioinformatics analysis, luciferase reporter assay, RT‑qPCR and western blot analysis were employed to evaluate whether zinc finger E‑box‑binding homeobox 1 (ZEB1) is a direct target of miR‑873 in TC cells. The present study reported that miR‑873 was weakly expressed in human TC tissues and cell lines. Functionally, miR‑873 overexpression suppressed TC cell proliferation and invasion in vitro. Mechanistically, ZEB1 was predicted to be a putative target of miR‑873. In addition, miR‑873 was proposed to directly bind to the 3'‑untranslated region of ZEB1 and decrease its expression in TC cells at the mRNA and protein levels. Furthermore, ZEB1 expression was significantly upregulated in TC tissues and negatively correlated with miR‑873 expression. Furthermore, ZEB1 restoration partially reversed the suppressive effects of miR‑873 overexpression on TC cell proliferation and invasion. These results demonstrated that miR‑873 may serve tumour‑suppressive roles in the progression of TC, and its suppressive effects could be mediated by the inhibition of ZEB1. Therefore, miR‑873 may be a valuable therapeutic target in the management of patients with TC.