miRNAs as potential biomarkers for the progression of gastric cancer inhibit CREBZF and regulate migration of gastric adenocarcinoma cells.

In our previous study, we identified three miRNAs (hsa-miR-421, hsa-miR-29b-1-5p, and hsa-miR-27b-5p) with two mRNAs (FBXO11 and CREBZF) that might play an important role in the development of gastric adenocarcinoma (GAC) from premalignant adenomas. However, the expression and function of these miRNAs have not been not well characterized. We investigated the roles of CREBZF and miRNAs as potential biomarkers for the progression of gastric cancer (GC) in low-/high-grade dysplasia and early gastric cancer patients using immunohistochemical staining and miRNA hybridization. Considering that targets can modulate in GC, we analyzed the CREBZF expression in gastric cancer cell lines by RT-PCR and western blot analysis. We observed lower expression of CREBZF with increasing miRNAs in the MKN-74 gastric cancer cells compared to that in SNU-NCC-19. Next, the role of CREBZF in MKN-74 gastric cancer cells was investigated via cell viability and migration assays by miRNA/anti-miRNA modulation. Furthermore, we found that hsa-miR-421/hsa-miR-29b-1-5p target CREBZF and might play an important role in the migration of MKN-74 cells. This study suggests that increased CREBZF by hsa-miR-421/hsa-miR-29b-1-5p inhibition may be important to prevent the progression of gastric cancer in its early stage.