MicroRNA-124 inhibits cell proliferation, invasion and migration by targeting CAV1 in bladder cancer

MicroRNAs (miRs) may have promotive or suppressive roles in various human cancers types, but the molecular mechanisms underlying the role of miR-124 in bladder cancer (BC) progression have remained largely elusive. In the present study, it was observed that miR-124 was significantly downregulated in BC tissues compared with that in adjacent non-neoplastic tissues. Furthermore, its expression was also reduced in several human BC cell lines (T24, HT-1376 and 5637) compared with that in the normal bladder epithelial SV-HUC-1 cell line. A low expression of miR-124 in BC patients was significantly associated with advanced malignancy and a poor prognosis. Caveolin 1 (CAV1) was identified as a novel target gene of miR-124, and the expression of CAV1 was negatively regulated by miR-124 in T24 cells. Furthermore, CAV1 was identified to be significantly upregulated in BC tissues and cell lines, and a negative correlation was observed between the expression of miR-124 and CAV1 in BC tissues. Furthermore, restoration of miR-124 expression significantly inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion of T24 cells, and these effects were impaired following overexpression of CAV1. Taken together, the present results demonstrate that miR-124 has a suppressive role in the proliferation, migration and invasion of BC cells by targeting CAV1, which suggests that miR-124 is a potential therapeutic candidate for BC.