Abstract

Background Hirschsprung disease (HSCR) is a congenital digestive disease in the new born. miR-369-3p has been reported to be involved in many human diseases. However, the relationship between miR-369-3p and HSCR remains largely unknown. Methods In this study, qRT-PCR was used to detect the relative expression of miR-369-3p in 60 HSCR bowel tissue samples and 47 matched controls. Bioinformatic analysis and dual-luciferase reporter assay were performed to evaluate the target for miR-369-3p. Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay, Transwell assay, wound healing assay and flow cytometry were employed to investigate the biological function of miR-369-3p in human SH-SY5Y and 293T cell lines. Results We found that ganglion cell numbers were remarkably reduced while miR-369-3p was significantly upregulated in HSCR tissues compared to that in adjacent normal tissues ( P   <   0.01). Dual-luciferase reporter assay showed that the 3′-UTR of SOX4 was a direct target to miR-369-3p. Moreover, an increased level of miR-369-3p was inversely correlated with decreased levels of SOX4 mRNA and protein ( P   <   0.05, respectively). Dysregulation of miR-369-3p and SOX4 significantly suppressed cell proliferation and migration in SH-SY5Y and 293T cell lines in vitro ( P   <   0.05, respectively). Conclusion Our study demonstrates that aberrant expression of miR-369-3p might play a crucial role in the development HSCR by regulating SOX4 expression, which may infer that it is an effective diagnostic target in the pathogenesis of HSCR, but investigation is still needed to explore the underlying mechanism.