Downregulation of miR‑637 promotes proliferation and metastasis by targeting Smad3 in keloids.

Keloids are a type of abnormal scar tissue. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) exhibit a pivotal role in the regulation of cell proliferation and metastasis of keloids. miRNA microarray revealed that miR‑637 was one of the most frequently altered miRNAs in keloids. Furthermore, up-regulation of miR‑637 inhibited cell proliferation and metastasis by targeting mothers against decapentaplegic homolog (Smad)3, one of the important proteins that affects the formation of keloids. Further studies demonstrated that miR‑637 regulated the proliferation and metastasis of human keloid fibroblast (HKF) cells by mediating the Smad3 signaling pathway. Overall, the present findings suggest that miR‑637 may be a promising therapeutic target in keloids.