The prognostic value of miR-127-5p in cervical squamous cell carcinoma and its role in suppressing malignant behavior of cancer cells via SNX10 inhibition

OBJECTIVES: Cervical squamous cell carcinoma (CESC) is the most common pathological type of cervical cancer. This study aimed to investigate the clinical relevance and functional role of miR-127-5p in CESC. METHOD: This study analyzed miR-127-5p expression in tumor and paired adjacent tissues from 134 CESC patients, and evaluated its association with clinicopathological features and prognosis using Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses. The effects of miR-127-5p on cell functions were assessed by CCK-8 and Transwell assays, and its interaction with SNX10 was investigated using dual-luciferase and rescue experiments. RESULTS: In CESC tissues, miR-127-5p was significantly downregulated and this downregulation correlated with advanced FIGO stage and positive lymph node metastasis. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that patients in the low miR-127-5p expression group had a lower 5-year survival rate. Cox regression analysis indicated that miR-127-5p is an independent factor affecting patient prognosis. Overexpression of miR-127-5p suppressed CESC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion by directly targeting the 3'UTR of SNX10, with rescue experiments identifying SNX10 as a key functional mediator that regulates EMT and autophagy-related pathways. CONCLUSIONS: miR-127-5p is lowly expressed in CESC and can serve as a potential prognostic biomarker. MiR-127-5p may inhibit the malignant behavior of CESC cells by targeting SNX10.