MicroRNA-27b inhibits cell proliferation in oral squamous cell carcinoma by targeting FZD7 and Wnt signaling pathway

•miR-27b was down-regulated in OSCC cell lines.•Overexpressed miR-27b inhibited OSCC cell proliferation by directly targeting FZD7.•FZD7 expression was inversely correlated with miR-27b expression in OSCC cell lines.

This study intended to investigate the role of microRNA-27b (miR-27b) in proliferation of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cells and to explore the potential molecular mechanism. Cell proliferation was detected by MTT assay. The expression levels of miR-27b, Frizzled7 (FZD7), cyclin D1 and c-myc were detected by quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The protein expression level of FZD7 was detected by western blot analysis. The relationship between miR-27b and FZD7, and the activity of Wnt signaling pathway were determined using luciferase reporter assay. The miR-27b expression in OSCC cell lines was significantly decreased compared with control. Overexpression of miR-27b remarkably inhibited OSCC cell proliferation. Additionally, miR-27b could target and inhibit FZD7 expression and decrease the activity of Wnt signaling pathway.miR-27b could inhibit OSCC cell proliferation through inhibiting FZD7 and FZD7-mediated Wnt signaling pathway.