MicroRNA-19a acts as a prognostic marker and promotes prostate cancer progression via inhibiting VPS37A expression

// Fangqiu Fu 1, * , Xuechao Wan 1, * , Dan Wang 1 , Zhe Kong 1 , Yalong Zhang 1 , Wenhua Huang 1 , Chenji Wang 1, 2 , Hai Wu 1, 2 and Yao Li 1, 2 1 Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, School of Life Science, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, PR China 2 Key Laboratory of Reproduction Regulation of NPFPC, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, PR China * These authors contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Yao Li, email: yaoli@fudan.edu.cn Keywords: microRNA-19a; VPS37A; prostate cancer; tumor progression; prognostic marker Received: May 04, 2017      Accepted: November 14, 2017      Published: December 06, 2017 ABSTRACT Prostate cancer (PCa) is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths among males worldwide. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the progression of PCa remain unclear. Despite several reported miRNAs in prostate cancer, these reports lacked system-level identification of differentially expressed miRNAs in large sample size. Moreover, it’s still largely unknown how miRNAs result in tumorigenesis and progression of PCa. Therefore, by analyzing three public databases, we identified 16 upregulated miRNAs and 13 downregulated miRNAs, and validated miR-19a was one of the most upregulated miRNAs using qRT-PCR. The dual-luciferase reporter assays indicated VPS37A was a potential target of miR-19a. Functional assays revealed miR-19a served as an oncogene by inhibiting VPS37A. Notably, a significant inverse correlation of miR-19a and VPS37A expression was observed in PCa specimens. Moreover, miR-19a-high and VPS37A-low phenotypes were associated with poor prognosis with biochemical recurrence-free probability. In this study, we confirmed the oncogenic role of miR-19a via targeting VPS37A in PCa, identifying miR-19a and VPS37A as diagnosis and therapeutic biomarkers for PCa.