miR-524-5p inhibits angiogenesis through targeting WNK1 in colon cancer cells

Abstract

There is increasing evidence that microRNA (miRNA) abnormity is involved in the occurrence and the development of various malignancies, including colon cancer. MiRNA-524-5p has been reported to possess anti-cancer activity in various tumors, which function is seldom investigated in colon cancer cells. The aim of this study was to explore the effect of miRNA-524-5p/with-nolysine kinases 1 (WNK1) system on angiogenesis in colon cancer cell line (HT-29 and COLO205 cells) and further investigate the potential mechanisms. We found miRNA-524-5p expression was relatively high in COLO205 cells and relatively low in HT-29 cells. Elevating miRNA-524-5p expression inhibited proliferation, induced cycle arrest, diminished VEGF production, and thereby suppressing angiogenesis in HT-29 cells. WNK1 silencing exerted the ability of anti-angiogenesis in HT-29 cells. Besides, miRNA-524-5p deficiency-induced angiogenesis was impeded by WNK1 silence in COLO205 cells. In a murine tumor model, miRNA-524-5p agomir treatment significantly suppressed colon cancer tumorigenicity with the down-regulation of WNK1 expression. In summary, our results indicated that miRNA-524-5p inhibited angiogenesis in colon cancer cells via targeting WNK1.