miR-125b suppresses cell proliferation and metastasis by targeting HAX-1 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) function as crucial regulators of various cancers. miR-125b acts as a tumor suppressor in multiple types of cancers. The aim of this study was to assess the role and molecular mechanism of miR-125b in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Quantitative real-time PCR was used to quantify miR-125b expression. Luciferase reporter assay was conducted to confirm HAX-1 3'UTR associations. In addition, the function of miR-125b and HAX-1 in ESCC was detected using MTT and transwell assays. We found that miR-125b was dramatically down-regulated in ESCC tissues and cell lines. Functional assays showed that over-expression of miR-125b suppressed ESCC cell proliferation and migration in vitro. On the contrary, cell proliferation and migration were promoted by miR-125b inhibition. Moreover, our results demonstrated that miR-125b markedly reduced the expression and transcription activity of HAX-1. HAX-1 expression reversed the miR-125b-induced suppression of cell proliferation and migration. Our data identify that down-regulation of miR-125b suppressed cell proliferation and migration of ESCC through up-regulating HAX-1 expression.