Inhibition of DIXDC1 by microRNA-1271 suppresses the proliferation and invasion of prostate cancer cells

Disheveled-Axin domain containing 1 (DIXDC1) is involved in the development and progression of multiple cancers. However, the function significance of DIXDC1 in prostate cancer remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the function of DIXDC1 in prostate cancer and the regulation of DIXDC1 by microRNAs (miRNAs). We found that DIXDC1 was highly expressed in prostate cancer cells. Knockdown of DIXDC1 by small interfering RNAs markedly suppressed proliferation, invasion and Wnt signaling in prostate cancer cells. DIXDC1 was identified as a target gene of miR-1271 by bioinformatics analysis, dual-luciferase reporter assay, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analysis. Furthermore, DIXDC1 expression was inversely correlated with miR-1271 expression in prostate cancer tissues. The overexpression of miR-1271 significantly inhibited proliferation, invasion and Wnt signaling in prostate cancer cells. However, the inhibition of miR-1271 exhibits the opposite effects. Moreover, the overexpression of DIXDC1 significantly reversed the inhibitory effects of miR-1271 overexpression. Taken together, our results suggest that DIXDC1 plays an important role in regulating prostate cancer cell proliferation and invasion. Targeting DIXDC1 by miR-1271 may be a promising therapeutic strategy for prostate cancer.