miR‐377‐3p drives malignancy characteristics via upregulating GSK‐3β expression and activating NF‐κB pathway in hCRC cells

Abstract

MicroRNA (miRNA) dysregulation has been associated with carcinogenesis in many cancers, including human colorectal cancer (hCRC). However, the effect and mechanism of miR‐377‐3p on CRC remains elusive. Herein, we first found that miR‐377‐3p was upregulated in CRC tissues and promoted tumorigenic activity by accelerating the G₁‐S phase transition, promoting cell proliferation and epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (EMT) while repressing apoptosis in CRC cells. Glycogen synthase kinase‐3β (GSK‐3β) was a direct target of miR‐377‐3p, and upregulated by miR‐377‐3p. Knockdown of GSK‐3β partly rescued miR‐377‐3p‐mediated malignancy characteristics. Most importantly, we showed that miR‐377‐3p promoted carcinogenesis by activating NF‐κB pathway. Taken together, our results first reported that miR‐377‐3p functions as an oncogene and promotes carcinogenesis via upregulating GSK‐3β expression and activating NF‐κB pathway in hCRC cells.