RETRACTED ARTICLE: Mir20a/106a-WTX axis regulates RhoGDIa/CDC42 signaling and colon cancer progression

Abstract

Wilms tumor gene on the X chromosome (WTX) is a putative tumor suppressor gene in Wilms tumor, but its expression and functions in other tumors are unclear. Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women and the second leading cause in men in the United States. We demonstrated that WTX frequently lost in CRC which was highly correlated with cell proliferation, tumor invasion and metastasis. Mechanistically, WTX loss disrupts the interaction between RhoGDIα and CDC42 by losing of the binding with RhoGDIα and triggers the activation of CDC42 and its downstream cascades, which promotes CRC development and liver metastasis. The aberrant upregulation of miR-20a/miR-106a were identified as the reason of WTX loss in CRC both in vivo and in vitro. These study defined the mechanism how miR-20a/miR-106a-mediated WTX loss regulates CRC progression and metastasis, and provided a potential therapeutic target for preventing CRC progression.

Wilms tumor gene on the X chromosome (WTX) is commonly downregulated in human cancers. Here the authors show that in colorectal cancer (CRC) WTX expression is downregulated via miR20a and miR160a and its loss promotes tumor development and liver metastasis by disrupting the interaction between RhoGDIα and CDC42 leading to the activation of the CDC42 downstream cascades.