MicroRNA-1301 inhibits migration and invasion of osteosarcoma cells by targeting BCL9

Increasing reports demonstrated that miRNAs play a critical role in tumor development and progression. Previous studies revealed that miR-1301 was abnormally expressed in various cancers. However, its function and underlying mechanism in osteosarcoma (OS) remains unknown. In this study, miR-1301 expression was significantly down-regulated in both OS tissues and cell lines. Down-regulated miR-1301 was obviously associated with malignant clinical features and poor overall survival of OS patients. miR-1301 overexpression inhibited cell proliferation, migration and invasion. In addition, we identified BCL9 act as a direct target of miR-1301 by directly binding to its 3'-UTR. In clinical OS tissues, miR-1301 negatively correlated BCL9 expression. BCL9 was up-regulated in OS tissues and cells. BCL9 overexpression promoted OS progression. Moreover, restoration of BCL9 expression at least partially abolished the proliferation, migration and invasion of miR-1301 on OS cells. In conclusion, our data indicated that miR-1301 inhibited cell proliferation, migration and invasion of OS by targeting BCL9, and may represent a novel potential therapeutic target and prognostic marker for OS.