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Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer in the USA. MicroRNAs play important roles in the pathogenesis of CRC. In this study, we investigated the role of miR-30b in CRC and found that its expression was significantly lower in CRC tissues than that in normal tissues. We showed that a low expression level of miR-30b was closely related to poor differentiation, advanced TNM stage and poor prognosis of CRC. Further experiments showed that over-expression of miR-30b suppressed CRC cell proliferation in vitro and tumour growth in vivo. Specifically, miR-30b promoted G1 arrest and induced apoptosis. Moreover, KRAS, PIK3CD and BCL2 were identified as direct and functional targets of miR-30b. MiR-30b directly targeted the 3'-untranslated regions of their mRNAs and repressed their expression. This study revealed functional and mechanistic links between miRNA-30b and oncogene KRAS, PIK3CD and BCL2 in the pathogenesis of CRC. MiR-30b not only plays important roles in the regulation of cell proliferation and tumour growth in CRC, but is also a potential prognostic marker or therapeutic target for CRC. Restoration of miR-30b expression may represent a promising therapeutic approach for targeting malignant CRC.
