miRNA-651-3p regulates EMT in ovarian cancer cells by targeting ZNF703 and via the MEK/ERK pathway.

miRNAs are non-coding single-stranded RNA molecules with many functions. Several miRNAs have been found to be dysregulated in ovarian cancer; however, the role of miR-651-3p in ovarian cancer remains unknown. Here, the expression level of miR-651-3p in ovarian tissue samples was determined via qRT-PCR, and then miR-651-3p was overexpressed and downregulated to study the functional changes in ovarian cancer cells. Based on previous research and database predictions, we analyzed the binding and regulatory effects of miR-651-3p on zinc finger protein 703 (ZNF703). We additionally evaluated the effect of miR-651-3p on epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MEK)/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathways in ovarian cancer cells. We found that miR-651-3p was downregulated in ovarian cancer tissues. miR-651-3p expression was associated with inhibited proliferation, invasion, and migration of ovarian cancer cells and promoted cell cycle arrest. Additionally, miR-651-3p was found to target ZNF703 and affect EMT in ovarian cancer by activating the MEK/ERK signaling pathway. MiR-651-3p was downregulated in ovarian cancer, and suppressed the malignant biological behavior of ovarian cancer by inhibiting ZNF703 and the MEK/ERK pathway. Our findings on miR-651-3p provided new insights for the diagnosis and treatment of ovarian cancer.