Premium
MicroRNA‐10a promotes epithelial‐to‐mesenchymal transition and stemness maintenance of pancreatic cancer stem cells via upregulating the Hippo signaling pathway through WWC2 inhibition
Author(s) -
Wang Caiyan,
Yin Wen,
Liu Hui
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of cellular biochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.028
H-Index - 165
eISSN - 1097-4644
pISSN - 0730-2312
DOI - 10.1002/jcb.29716
Subject(s) - hippo signaling pathway , epithelial–mesenchymal transition , cancer research , microrna , pancreatic cancer , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , cancer stem cell , stem cell , signal transduction , cancer , metastasis , gene , genetics
MicroRNAs (miRNAs)‐mediated cancer stem cells (CSCs) have drawn wide attention. This study aimed to probe the role of miR‐10a in epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) and stemness maintenance of pancreatic CSCs (PCSCs). Differentially expressed miRs and genes in pancreatic cancer (PC) were predicted via an online database, and the miR‐10a and WW and C2 domain containing 2 (WWC2) expression were identified via a comparative study in PC and pancreatitis tissues. PCNCs were isolated and identified, and then the functional roles of miR‐10a and WWC2 in proliferation, invasion, migration, self‐renewal, colony formation abilities, EMT, and stemness maintenance of PCNCs were determined. The effects of miR‐10a on tumor growth in vivo were studied by performing a xenograft tumor in nude mice. Consequently, miR‐10a was highly expressed while WWC2 was lowly expressed in PC tissues. miR‐10a could target WWC2 expression. miR‐10a inhibition reduced EMT and stemness maintenance of PCSCs via enhancing WWC2 expression. The in vitro results were reproduced in in vivo studies. miR‐10a promoted EMT and stemness maintenance of PCSCs via activating the Hippo signaling pathway. Our study provided evidence that miR‐10a inhibition reduced EMT and stemness maintenance of PCSCs via upregulating WWC2 expression and inhibiting the Hippo signaling pathway.