Mir-25 Promotes Metastasis of Esophageal Cancer by Targeting BTG2

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Molecular Biology
• Biomarker Discovery

Background:

• MicroRNA-25 (miR-25) is implicated as an oncogene in various human cancers.
• Limited research exists on the specific role of miR-25 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the overexpression of miR-25 in ESCC as a prognostic biomarker.
• To elucidate the underlying mechanism of miR-25's function in ESCC progression.
• To assess the relationship between miR-25, BTG2, and patient survival outcomes.

Main Methods:

• Quantitative detection of miR-25 and BTG2 expression in ESCC tumor and adjacent tissues.
• Establishment of a stably knocked-down miR-25 esophageal cancer cell line (miR-25KD).
• Cell proliferation assays (CCK-8), metastasis assays (Transwell), and gene profiling studies were conducted.

Main Results:

• miR-25 was significantly overexpressed in ESCC tissues compared to adjacent tissues (p<0.001) and correlated with postoperative metastasis (p=0.004).
• BTG2 expression was significantly lower in tumor tissues (p<0.001) and associated with metastasis (p=0.005).
• High miR-25 levels predicted worse overall survival (OS) and metastasis-free survival (MFS) (p=0.009, p=0.025 respectively).
• Knockdown of miR-25 inhibited proliferation and metastasis, and miR-25 was found to directly inhibit BTG2 expression, suppress vimentin, and increase E-cadherin and BTG2 expression.

Conclusions:

• miR-25 promotes ESCC progression by directly inhibiting BTG2 expression.
• miR-25 and BTG2 serve as valuable prognostic biomarkers for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
• Targeting miR-25 may offer a therapeutic strategy for ESCC.