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Background  Let-7a has been shown to play important roles in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cell proliferation and apoptosis, but little is known about the function and mechanism of let-7a in nasopharyngeal carcinoma metastasis. We aimed to investigate the function and mechanism of let-7a in nasopharyngeal carcinoma metastasis and clarified the regulation of high mobility group A2 (HMGA2) by let-7a.    Methods  The expression levels of let-7a and HMGA2 were examined in NPC clinical specimens using quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (RT-qPCR). HMGA2 was confirmed as a target of let-7a through luciferase reporter assays, RT-qPCR, and Western blotting. Furthermore, the roles of let-7a and HMGA2 in regulating NPC cells biological properties including proliferation, migration, invasion and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process were analyzed with let-7a mimics and si-HMGA2 transfected cells.    Results  Our study demonstrated that let-7a was downregulated and inversely associated with the clinical stage, T classification and N classification, and HMGA2 was upregulated and directly associated with the clinical stage and N classification in patients with NPC. Moreover, there was an inverse correlation between let-7a expression and HMGA2 expression in NPC patient. In addition, HMGA2 was negatively regulated at the posttranscriptional level by let-7a via a binding site of HMGA2-3′UTR. In addition, synthetic let-7a mimics suppressed NPC cells migration, invasion and EMT process and knockdown of HMGA2 was consistent with the effects of let-7a in NPC cells.    Conclusion  Let-7a directly downregulates HMGA2 protein expression, which suppress NPC cell migration, invasion and EMT process. Let-7a could serve as a potential diagnostic marker and therapeutic target for NPC.    Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12967-015-0462-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Let-7a inhibits migration, invasion and epithelial-mesenchymal transition by targeting HMGA2 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma