Abstract
The present study aimed to investigate the function and mechanism of microRNA-638 (miR-638) in osteosarcoma. MiR-638 expression change in patients with osteosarcoma was detected by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Expression of miR-638 was observed to be downregulated in patients with osteosarcoma compared with the control group. In vitro, overexpression of miR-638 induced apoptosis, and inhibited cell proliferation and invasion of osteosarcoma cells. Overexpression of miR-638 induced Bcl-2 associated X and caspase-3 protein expression, and suppressed cyclin D1, phospholipase D1 (PLD1) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) protein expression in osteosarcoma. The promotion of PLD1 decreased the effects of miR-638 on osteosarcoma cell proliferation. In summary, it was demonstrated that miRNA-638 expression change in patients with osteosarcoma and an in vitro model via PLD1 and VEGF expression and miRNA-638 may be potential clinical indicators of osteosarcoma.