MicroRNA-769-3p down-regulates NDRG1 and enhances apoptosis in MCF-7 cells during reoxygenation

Hypoxia and reoxygenation are common characteristics of solid tumors, which lead to oxidative stress and activation of stress-response genes. Previously, we observed that N-myc downstream-regulated gene 1 (NDRG1) was strongly down-regulated after shifting to reoxygenation, but the regulatory mechanism of NDRG1 remained elusive. Here we focused on the regulation of NDRG1 by microRNAs (miRNAs). Breast cancer MCF-7 cells were cultured under hypoxia for 24 h followed by 24 h of reoxygenation. The miRNA profiles were examined by Nanostring nCounter assays. Forty-three miRNAs had significant changes upon reoxygenation. In silico analysis identified four oxygen-sensitive miRNAs whose seed regions perfectly matched the 39-UTR of NDRG1. In particular, miR-769-3p was able to inhibit the expression of NDRG1, which caused a significant reduction of NDRG1 protein upon reoxygenation. Furthermore, overexpression of miR-769-3p significantly inhibited cell proliferation and enhanced apoptosis. Our results revealed that miR-769-3p can functionally regulate NDRG1 during changes in oxygen concentration.