Abstract
MicroRNAs (miRs) have been demonstrated to be important in the establishment and progression of colon cancer. However the underlying molecular mechanisms remain to be fully elucidated. Polypeptide N‑acetylgalactosaminyltransferase4 (GALNT4) participates in numerous cellular processes, including tumorigenesis. The present study used reverse transcription‑quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blotting to investigate the expression levels of miR‑4262 and GALNT4 in tissues and cells. In addition, MTS and colony formation assays, and cell cycle analysis were performed to evaluate the effect of miR‑4262 on cell proliferation and the cell cycle. The findings demonstrated that miR‑4262 was a direct target of GALNT4 mRNA. Overexpression of miR‑4262 was demonstrated to decrease GALNT4 mRNA and protein expression levels, and thereby suppressed cell viability, growth and cell‑cycle progression in SW480 and SW620 colon cancer cells. In addition, knockdown of miR‑4262 significantly increased the cell viability, growth, and cell‑cycle progression of SW480 and SW620 cells. The expression level of miR‑4262 was observed to be downregulated as the expression of GALNT4 was upregulated in colon cancer tissues and cell lines. In conclusion, the results demonstrated that miR‑4262 may be involved in the development of colon cancer via targeting of GALNT4. The miR‑4262/GALNT4 axis may be a novel target for diagnosing and understanding the underlying molecular mechanism of colon cancer.