Clinical Significance and Functional Analysis of miR-487b-3p in Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer has been regulated by microRNAs (miRNAs). Dysregulation of miR-487b-3p has been observed in several cancers. Present research was performed to explore the expression and function of miR-487b-3p in ovarian cancer. Differentially expressed miRNAs (DEmiRNAs) have been selected from GSE131790 dataset. miR-487b-3p level in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) patients has been verified by qRT-PCR. Effect of miR-487b-3p for EOC has been explored in SKOV3 and A2780 cells. Cell proliferation was assessed by Cell Counting Kit-8 conducted to assess the cell viability. Cell apoptosis rate was examined by flow cytometer. Transwell experiment was conducted to assess the migration and invasiveness of cells. Target gene of miR-487b-3p was predicted by databases. Target association was certified by double luciferase experiment. miR-487b-3p was upregulated in EOC patients. High miR-487b-3p could diagnose the onset of EOC (area under ROC curve (AUC) = 0.924, sensitivity = 88.79%, specificity = 84.8%). High FIGO stage (P = 0.023) and low differentiation grade (P = 0.044) were more frequently discovered in high miR-487b-3p group. miR-487b-3p could facilitate the cell viability, migration, invasiveness and inhibit the apoptosis of EOC cells. Ferrochelatase (FECH) is a direct target gene of miR-487b-3p. FECH was decreased in EOC tissues and passively related to miR-487b-3p. FECH could reverse the function of miR-487b-3p for EOC cells. Upregulated miR-487b-3p in EOC patients had high diagnostic value for EOC. miR-487b-3p facilitated EOC development via FECH.