MiR-761 inhibits colorectal cancer cell proliferation and invasion through targeting HDAC1.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancer diagnoses. Histone deacetylase (HDAC) overactivity in CRC could promote cancer progression. HDAC1, a member of the HDAC family, is found aberrantly expressed in CRC, but it remains unclear whether the expression of HDAC1 can be regulated by microRNA. In the present study, we confirmed the overexpression status of HDAC1 in CRC tissues and cell lines, and its overexpression could promote CRC cell proliferation and invasion in vitro. We saw that HDAC1 was a direct target gene of miR-761 in CRC by bioinformatic and luciferase reporter analyses. HDAC1 expression could be regulated and was negatively correlated with miR-761 in CRC. We also indicated that the expression of miR-761 was abnormally downregulated in CRC. Transfection with a miR-761 mimic impeded the growth and invasion of CRC cells. In addition, we showed that ectopic expression of miR-761 mitigated HDAC1 stimulation of CRC cell proliferation and invasion. Our results demonstrate that miR-761 represents a potential strategy against CRC.