miR-106b-5p promotes cell proliferation and cell cycle progression by directly targeting CDKN1A in osteosarcoma

MicroRNA (miR)-106b-5p has been reported to act as both an oncogene and tumor suppressor in several tumors. The aim of the present study was to investigate the biological function of miR-106b-5p in osteosarcoma (OS). miR-106b-5p expression was observed to be significantly increased in OS tissues and cell lines. MTT assay and flow cytometry analysis determined that miR-106b-5p inhibitor transfection suppressed OS cell proliferation and induced cell cycle G0/G1 phase arrest. Furthermore, bioinformatics analysis and a luciferase reporter assay demonstrated that cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 1A (CDKN1A) was a potential target of miR-106b-5p. p21 protein expression was found to be significantly increased by miR-106b-5p downregulation in OS cells. Further analysis demonstrated that CDKN1A was downregulated in OS tissues and was negatively correlated with miR-106b-5p expression. Furthermore, upregulation of CDKN1A expression mimicked, whilst CDKN1A knockdown reversed the suppressive effects of miR-106b-5p inhibitor on OS cell proliferation and cell cycle progression. In summary, the present data suggested that miR-106b-5p promotes cell proliferation and cell cycle progression by directly targeting CDKN1A in OS.