Increasing evidence indicated that microRNAs served dominant roles in carcinogenesis and cancer progression by targeting potential downstream genes. In our study, we found that miR-527 was an upregulated expression in human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) cells and tissues. Furthermore, overexpression of miR-527 promoted cell proliferation and colony formation, enhanced anchorage-independent growth ability, and contributed to cell cycle. In addition, protein phosphatase 2 (PHLPP2) was identified as the direct downstream target gene of miR-527 and was confirmed by luciferase gene reporter assay. In summary, we concluded that miR-527 acted as an oncogenic microRNA in ESCC development by directly targeting PHLPP2 might be a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of ESCC.

越来越多的证据表明，microRNA通过靶向潜在的下游基因在癌变和癌症进展中起着主导作用。在我们的研究中，我们发现miR-527在人食道鳞状细胞癌（ESCC）细胞和组织中表达上调。此外，miR-527的过表达促进细胞增殖和集落形成，增强锚定非依赖性生长能力，并有助于细胞周期。此外，蛋白磷酸酶2（PHLPP2）被鉴定为miR-527的直接下游靶基因，并通过荧光素酶基因报告基因检测法得到证实。总而言之，我们得出的结论是，miR-527通过直接靶向PHLPP2在ESCC发育中充当致癌微RNA可能是ESCC治疗的新型治疗靶标。