MicroRNA-128 inhibits the development of human colon cancer by targeting Rho family GTPase 3

MicroRNA-128 (miRNA-128) exhibits tumour regulatory role in several human cancers including the colon cancer. However, regulatory mechanics of miRNA-128 through Rho family GTPase-3 (RND3) targeting is elusive in colon cancer and was the objective of present study. The results showed that miRNA-128 has significant (P < 0.05) level of down-regulation in colon cancer. Over-expression of miRNA-128 significantly (P < 0.05) decreased the viability and colony forming ability of colon cancer cells through induction of apoptosis. The percentage of apoptosis was 6.01% and 37.02% for miR-NC and miR-128 mimics transfected HT-29 cancer cells, respectively. Induction of apoptosis was associated with up-regulation of Bax and down-regulation of Bcl-2. Rho family GTPase-3 (RND3) to be target of miRNA-128 and mediated the regulatory control of miRNA-128 in colon cancer. Finally, miR-128 was found to inhibit the growth of xenografted tumours in mice. Thus, miRNA-128 exerts tumour-suppressive role in human colon cancer and may serve in colon cancer management.