MiR-21 regulates biological behavior through the PTEN/PI-3 K/Akt signaling pathway in human colorectal cancer cells

The aim of this study was to determine a role of microRNA-21 (miR-21) in colorectal cancer (CRC) and to elucidate the regulation of phosphatase and tensin homologue (PTEN) gene by miR-21. MiR-21 expression was investigated in 30 CRC samples and five CRC cell lines. In this study, we show that the expression of miR-21 was overexpressed in CRC compared with adenomas and normal tissues. Patients with poor differentiation, lymph node metastasis and advanced TNM stage showed significantly high expression of miR-21. Inhibition of miR-21 in the HCT116 cell line reduced cellular proliferation, migration and invasion, induced apoptosis and inhibited cell cycle progression. The PTEN protein levels in CRC tissues and cells had an inverse correlation with miR-21 expression. Anti-miR-21-transfected cells increased PTEN protein expression without changing the PTEN mRNA level and increased a luciferase-reporter activity. MiR-21 targets PTEN at the post-transcriptional level and regulates cell proliferation and invasion in CRC. It may serve as a novel therapeutic target in CRC.