Knockdown of MiR-20a Enhances Sensitivity of Colorectal Cancer Cells to Cisplatin by Increasing ASK1 Expression.

<bold>Background/Aims:</bold> Platinum-based chemotherapy is one of the most important strategies for treatment of colorectal cancer. To improve the therapeutic efficiency, adjuvant drugs were sought to sensitize colorectal cancer cells to platinum-based agents such as cisplatin. As previous research has shown that miRNAs are associated with chemosensitivity, we aimed to alter miRNA regulation in colorectal cancer cells to increase their chemosensitivity. <bold>Methods:</bold> MTT assays were performed to determine the viability of HT29, SW480, and LoVo cells. Quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was performed to examine the expression of miR-20a in these cell lines. Regulation of the miR-20a/ASK1 axis was confirmed by western blotting and luciferase reporter assays. After treatment with miR-20a inhibitor (anti-miR-20a) and cisplatin, production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), mitochondrial membrane potential, and apoptosis were measured by flow cytometry. Activation of ASK1, Bcl-xl, JNK, and caspase-9, -7, and -3 was detected by western blotting. <bold>Results:</bold> miR-20a was overexpressed in colorectal cancer cell lines. Furthermore, knockdown of miR-20a increased the sensitivity of colorectal cancer cells to cisplatin treatment in vitro and in vivo. We demonstrated that the ASK1 gene was the target of miR-20a, and knockdown of miR-20a increased the expression of ASK1 in colorectal cancer cells. As cisplatin treatment induced production of ROS, knockdown of miR-20a enhanced ROS signaling through promoting the phosphorylation of ASK1. Phosphorylation of JNK and the subsequent mitochondrial apoptosis were triggered by the combination of cisplatin and anti-miR-20a. <bold>Conclusions:</bold> Knockdown of miR-20a enhanced sensitivity of colorectal cancer cells to cisplatin through the ROS/ASK1/JNK pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]