@Article{096504017X14850134190255,
AUTHOR = {HaiYan Yang, ZhiGang Peng, ZhenZhen Da, Xin Li, YeXiao Cheng, BinBin Tan, Xin Xiang, HaiPing Zheng, Yan Li, LanHua Chen, Ning Mo, XueXin Yan, Xiaolin Li, XiaoHua Hu},
TITLE = {MicroRNA-148a Acts as a Tumor Suppressor in Osteosarcoma  via Targeting Rho-Associated Coiled-Coil Kinase},
JOURNAL = {Oncology Research},
VOLUME = {25},
YEAR = {2017},
NUMBER = {8},
PAGES = {1231--1243},
URL = {http://www.techscience.com/or/v25n8/56908},
ISSN = {1555-3906},
ABSTRACT = {MicroRNAs (miRs) have been demonstrated to be involved in the development and progression of osteosarcoma (OS), but the molecular mechanism still remains to be fully investigated. The present study investigated 
the function of miR-148a in OS, as well as its underlying mechanism. Our data showed that miR-148a was 
significantly downregulated in OS tissues compared to their matched adjacent normal tissues, and also in OS 
cell lines compared to normal human osteoblast cells. Low expression of miR-148a was significantly associated 
with tumor progression and a poor prognosis for OS patients. Rho-associated coiled-coil kinase 1 (ROCK1) was 
then identified as a target of miR-148a in Saos-2 and U2OS cells, and the expression of ROCK1 was significantly increased in OS tissues and cell lines. Moreover, the protein expression of ROCK1 was markedly reduced 
in miR-148a-overexpressing Saos-2 and U2OS cells, but significantly increased in miR-148a-downregulated 
Saos-2 and U2OS cells. Further investigation indicated that miR-148a had a suppressive effect on the proliferative, migratory, and invasive capacities of Saos-2 and U2OS cells. Moreover, overexpression of ROCK1 
attenuated the inhibitory effects of miR-148a upregulation on the malignant phenotypes of Saos-2 and U2OS 
cells. In addition, overexpression of miR-148a significantly inhibited the tumor growth of U2OS cells in nude 
mice. Taken together, these data demonstrate that miR-148a acts as a tumor suppressor in OS, at least partly, via 
targeting ROCK1. Therefore, the miR-148a/ROCK1 axis may become a potential therapeutic target for OS.},
DOI = {10.3727/096504017X14850134190255}
}