Zhang Jing, Li Shengze, Li Yanhua, Liu Hongli, Zhang Yuan, Zhang Qingsong
Department of Gynecologic Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Bengbu Medical College, Bengbu, Anhui 233004, P.R. China.
Exp Ther Med. 2018 Sep;16(3):2433-2441. doi: 10.3892/etm.2018.6491. Epub 2018 Jul 20.
Cervical cancer (CC) is one of the most malignant tumors that affect women. Recent studies have reported that microRNAs (miRs) serve important roles in CC. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of miR-218 in CC and to verify its underlying mechanism. The results of reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) revealed that miR-218 was dramatically downregulated in CC tissues and cell lines. Furthermore, the expression of Gli3 and Ki67 was measured using RT-qPCR and the results revealed that levels of these proteins were negatively correlated with miR-218 in CC tissues. The protein expression levels were determined by western blotting. Then SiHa cell line was used to investigate the mechanism of CC. Following cell transfection, cell apoptosis and cycle analyses were performed using the flow cytometry. The results revealed that miR-218 overexpression significantly inhibited cell proliferation, apoptosis and cell cycle. Additionally, luciferase reporter assay revealed that Gli3 may be a novel and direct target of miR-218 in CC. Taken together, the results of the present study suggest that miR-218 overexpression or Gli3 knockdown may have potential as therapeutic strategies for the treatment of CC.
宫颈癌（CC）是影响女性的最恶性肿瘤之一。最近的研究报道，微小RNA（miR）在宫颈癌中发挥重要作用。本研究的目的是探讨miR-218在宫颈癌中的作用，并验证其潜在机制。逆转录定量聚合酶链反应（RT-qPCR）结果显示，miR-218在宫颈癌组织和细胞系中显著下调。此外，使用RT-qPCR检测Gli3和Ki67的表达，结果显示这些蛋白的水平在宫颈癌组织中与miR-218呈负相关。通过蛋白质印迹法测定蛋白质表达水平。然后使用SiHa细胞系研究宫颈癌的机制。细胞转染后，使用流式细胞术进行细胞凋亡和周期分析。结果显示，miR-218过表达显著抑制细胞增殖、凋亡和细胞周期。此外，荧光素酶报告基因检测显示，Gli3可能是miR-218在宫颈癌中的一个新的直接靶点。综上所述，本研究结果表明，miR-218过表达或Gli3基因敲低可能具有作为宫颈癌治疗策略的潜力。
