miR-34a mediates oxaliplatin resistance of colorectal cancer cells by inhibiting macroautophagy transforming growth factor-β/Smad4 pathway.

Aim: To investigate whether microRNA (miR)-34a mediates oxaliplatin (OXA) resistance of colorectal cancer (CRC) cells by inhibiting macroautophagy the transforming growth factor (TGF)-β/Smad4 pathway.

Methods: miR-34a expression levels were detected in CRC tissues and CRC cell lines by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Computational search, functional luciferase assay and western blotting were used to demonstrate the downstream target of miR-34a in CRC cells.