MicroRNAs (
miRNAs) are reported to have important roles in regulating the progression of numerous human
cancers, although little is known regarding the role of
miRNAs in
colorectal cancer. The present study aimed to investigate the role of microRNA-433 (miR-433) in
colorectal cancer. The expression levels of miR-433 and its target gene
metastasis associated in colon cancer-1 (MACC1) in
colorectal cancer tissues were evaluated using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blotting. Furthermore, flow cytometry and MTT assays were used to examine the apoptosis, cell cycle distribution and viability of human
colorectal cancer cells, and
luciferase reporter and western blot assays were performed to verify the regulatory mechanism of miR-433 on MACC1. In addition,
caspase-3 and
caspase-9 expression were examined using western blotting. It was demonstrated that miR-433 expression was downregulated in
colorectal cancer tissues and cell lines. Artificial upregulation of miR-433 in
colorectal cancer cell lines using miR-433 mimics revealed that upregulation of miR-433 was able to reduce the viability and promote the apoptosis of
colorectal cancer cells by downregulating MACC1. Taken together, these results suggested that miR-433 may have an important role in the pathogenesis of
colorectal cancer.