Abstract
Emerging evidence has suggested that dysregulation of microRNA-27a-3p (miR-27a-3p) may contribute to tumor development and progression in various types of cancers. However, its role in esophageal cancer is still unknown. In the present study, miR-27a-3p was significantly increased in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) tissues and cell lines. In esophageal cancer Eca109 cells, ectopic overexpression of miR-27a-3p promoted cell proliferation, meanwhile, cell proliferation was reduced by miR-27a-3p inhibition. Further studies showed that down-regulated miR-27a-3p expression could induced cell cycle arrest at the G1/S transition. In exploring mechanisms underlying the promotive role, our results revealed that miR-27a-3p markedly inhibited the expression of F-box and WD repeat domain-containing 7 (FBXW7). FBXW7, a tumor suppressor, exhibited significantly inhibitory effect on Eca109 cell proliferation. Thus our observations suggested that miR-27a-3p functioned as a tumor suppressor by targeting FBXW7. These findings indicated that miR-27a-3p could be considered as a potential therapeutic strategy for ESCC therapy.