Abstract
MicroRNA‑30a (miR‑30a) was previously reported to serve as a tumor suppressor able to inhibit the development and progression of certain types of cancer. A number of previous studies demonstrated that zinc finger E‑box binding homeobox 2 (ZEB2) may be regulated by miR‑30a in clear cell renal cell carcinoma and breast cancer. However, the function of miR‑30a in human nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) remains unclear. The present study aimed to investigate the association between miR‑30a and ZEB2 in NPC. Therefore, the expression levels of miR‑30a and ZEB2 were measured in human NPC cells and tissues from patients with NPC, and the present results suggested that the expression level of miR‑30a was significantly decreased in NPC tissues compared with paracancerous tissues. The direct interaction between miR‑30a and the untranslated region of ZEB2 was examined using the dual‑luciferase reporter assay, and ZEB2 was identified as a direct target of miR‑30a. Additionally, the effects of miR‑30a and ZEB2 overexpression on cell proliferation, migration, invasion and apoptosis were additionally investigated. Functional experiments identified that overexpression of miR‑30a increased apoptosis and suppressed cell proliferation, cell migration and cell invasion by directly targeting ZEB2. Collectively, the present study suggested that miR‑30a may serve an important role in the progression of NPC and may represent a novel target for the treatment of patients with NPC.