MicroRNA-196b promotes cell growth and metastasis of ovarian cancer by targeting ZMYND11.

BACKGROUND

The purpose of this study was to explore the mechanism by which microRNA-196b exerts a tumor promotion effect on ovarian cancer (OCa).

METHODS

Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was performed to examine the expression of microRNA-196b in 60 pairs of tumor samples and paracancerous ones collected from patients with ovarian cancer, meanwhile, microRNA-196b expression in human ovarian cancer cell lines and normal ovarian epithelial cell lines were also analyzed by qRT-PCR. Bioinformatics methods suggested that ZMYND11 was predicted the target gene of microRNA-196b and its binding relationship was verified by dual luciferase reporter gene experiment. Then cell counting kit (CCK-8) and 5-Ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU) assay were performed to analyze the influence of microRNA-196b overexpression on OCa cell proliferation.

RESULTS

QRT-PCR results showed that microRNA-196b level in OCa tissues was remarkably higher than that in normal ovarian tissues, which was closely relevant to the poor prognosis of tumors. The dual luciferase reporter gene experiments confirmed that microRNA-196b could directly bind to the 3'-UTR of ZMYND11. Overexpression of microRNA-196b remarkably enhanced the proliferation, invasiveness and migratory ability of OCa cells. Meanwhile, overexpression of microRNA-196b significantly decreased ZMYND11 mRNA and protein expression. In addition, ZMYND11 level was also significantly increased in ovarian cancer cells. Compared with the miRNA-NC group, microRNA-196b-mimics + ZMYND11-OE treatment reversed the effect of microRNA-196b-mimics on OCa cell functions.

CONCLUSIONS

MicroRNA-196b was highly expressed in OCa tissues, which can promote the proliferation, invasiveness and migratory ability of OCa cells by targeting ZMYND11. In addition, the expression disorder of microRNA-196b was associated with the malignant development of OCa.