MicroRNA-212 suppresses the proliferation and migration of osteosarcoma cells by targeting forkhead box protein A1.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small non-coding RNAs that function as critical gene regulators by targeting the 3' untranslated region (UTR) of mRNA, causing translational repression or mRNA degradation. Deregulation of specific miRNAs, including miR-212, has been identified in patients with osteosarcoma. However, the underlying mechanism is yet to be fully elucidated. The present study aimed to reveal the regulatory mechanism of miR-212 in osteosarcoma cell viability and migration. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction data revealed that miR-212 was significantly downregulated in osteosarcoma tissues compared with normal bone tissues. miR-212 was also downregulated in osteosarcoma cell lines compared with normal osteoblast cell lines. Overexpression of miR-212 significantly suppressed the viability and migration of human osteosarcoma MG-63 and Saos-2 cell lines. In addition, forkhead box protein A1 (FOXA1), an oncogene in osteosarcoma, was predicted to be a putative target of miR-212 by bioinformatical analysis. Furthermore, luciferase reporter assay data confirmed that miR-212 could directly bind to the seed sequences within the 3'UTR of FOXA1 mRNA, and miR-212 negatively mediated the protein levels of FOXA1 in osteosarcoma MG-63 and Saos-2 cells. Moreover, knockdown of FOXA1 also led to a significant decrease in the viability and migration of osteosarcoma MG-63 and Saos-2 cells and the expression levels of FOXA1 were significantly upregulated in osteosarcoma tissues and cell lines. These data suggest that miR-212 inhibits the viability and migration of osteosarcoma cells by targeting FOXA1. Accordingly, miR-212 may become a potential candidate for osteosarcoma therapy.