Here, we show that miR-3140, which was identified as a novel tumor suppressive miRNA by function-based screening of a library containing 1090 miRNA mimics, directly suppressed BRD4 by binding to its coding sequence (CDS). miR-3140 concurrently downregulated BRD3 by bind to its CDS as well as CDK2 and EGFR by binding to their 3' untranslated regions. miR-3140 inhibited tumor cell growth in vitro in various cancer cell lines, including EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor-resistant cells.
BRD3 and UBAP1 are both involved in NPC carcinogenesis as confirmed through our previous studies and PTEN is a crucial tumor suppressor in many tumor types.