miR-192/215-5p act as tumor suppressors and link Crohn's disease and colorectal cancer by targeting common metabolic pathways: An integrated informatics analysis and experimental study

MicroRNAs have emerged as key regulators involved in a variety of biological processes. Previous studies have demonstrated that miR-192/215 participated in progression of Crohn's disease and colorectal cancer. However, their concrete relationships and regulation networks in diseases remain unclear. Here, we used bioinformatics methods to expound miR-192/215-5p macrocontrol regulatory networks shared by two diseases. For data mining and figure generation, several miRNA prediction tools, Human miRNA tissue atlas, FunRich, miRcancer, MalaCards, STRING, GEPIA, cBioPortal, GEO databases, Pathvisio, Graphpad Prism 6 software, etc . are extensively applied. miR-192/215-5p were specially distributed in colon tissues and enriched biological pathways were closely associated with human cancers. Emerging role of miR-192/215-5p and their common pathways in Crohn's disease and colorectal cancer was also analyzed. Based on results derived from multiple approaches, we identified the biological functions of miR-192/215-5p as a tumor suppressor and link Crohn's disease and colorectal cancer by targeting triglyceride synthesis and extracellular matrix remodeling pathways.