MicroRNA-372 is associated with poor prognosis in colorectal cancer

Objective: MicroRNA-372 (miR-372) is reportedly shown to be an oncogene in human testicular germ cell tumors and gastric cancers, but its expression in colorectal cancer (CRC) is not yet determined. This study investigated the clinical significance of miR-372 expression in CRC.

Methods: qRT-PCR was used to evaluate miR-372 in 144 CRC patients, and large tumor suppressor 2 (LATS2) expression was also examined as the likely target gene of miR-372. In vitroassays were performed to evaluate the biological function of miR-372.

Results: Multivariate analysis indicated that high miR-372 expression was an independent prognostic factor (p = 0.006). High miR-372 expression was associated with synchronous liver metastasis (p = 0.035). We found an inverse relationship between miR-372 and LATS2 by qRT-PCR (p = 0.007) and immunohistochemistry (p = 0.042) using CRC tissue samples. Furthermore, pre-miR-372 led to a decrease in the LATS2 protein and an increase in proliferative activity of LoVo cells. We also found a significant association between low LATS2 expression and liver metastasis (p = 0.042).

Conclusions: This study suggested that miR-372 was a novel independent prognostic factor in CRC. Our data suggest that LATS2 may serve as one of the target genes of miR-372 in clinical CRC tissues.