Notably, we observed a markedly inverse correlation between the mRNA expression (T/N) of miR-135-5p and SMAD3 in 66 BC tissues (P < 0.001; Fig. 1C), which was further confirmed by the results from the LinkedOmics dataset (http://www.linkedomics.org/login.php) (Fig. 1D). Here, SMAD3 is linked to breast cancer.