MicroRNA4530 promotes angiogenesis by targeting VASH1 in breast carcinoma cells

The results of our previous study revealed that microRNA (miRNA/miR)4530 was upregulated in the serum of patients with diabetic retinopathy. The TargetScan miRNA database was used to identify potential targets of miR4530 and vasohibin1 (VASH1) was predicted as one of the targets. The results of our previous study demonstrated that miR4530 was able to promote angiogenesis in human umbilical vein endothelial cells. Therefore, suppressing miR4530 may be a potentially novel approach towards inhibiting tumor angiogenesis. The present study aimed to investigate the function of miR4530 and determine whether miR4530 was able to regulate angiogenesis in breast carcinoma cells by targeting VASH1. MDAMB231 and MCF7 cells were transfected with miR4530 precursor, antimiR4530 and empty vector plasmids. The expression levels of miRNA and mRNA were detected using the reverse transcriptionquantitative polymerase chain reaction (RTqPCR). The expression levels of protein were detected using western blotting. Dualluciferase reporter assays were used to identify the target of miR4530. Furthermore, cell proliferation, cell cycle, apoptosis and tube formation assays were used to investigate the function of miR4530 in vitro. Nude mice were used in a subcutaneous tumor model in vivo study. The results of the present study demonstrated that miR4530 significantly suppressed proliferation and promoted apoptosis of breast carcinoma cells. In addition, miR4530 expression promoted angiogenesis in vitro. Results from the western blotting and RTqPCR revealed that VASH1 was significantly downregulated by miR4530 in breast carcinoma cells. The results of the present study suggest that miR4530 promotes angiogenesis, inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis in breast carcinoma cells by suppressing the expression of VASH1.