MicroRNA-524 promotes cell proliferation by down-regulating PTEN expression in osteosarcoma

Ming Zhuang,Xubin Qiu,Dong Cheng,Chenlei Zhu,Liang Chen

doi:10.1186/s12935-018-0612-1

Abstract

BackgroundIncreasing numbers of studies have examined the correlation between specific miRNAs and tumours to enable their diagnosis and treatment. However, there are few reports regarding the concrete role and mechanism of miRNA in osteosarcoma.MethodsThe expression of miR-524 in osteosarcoma tissues and cell lines was examined by qRT-PCR. The cell proliferation was examined using CCK-8 in vitro. A series of bioinformatics and molecular biology techniques were adopted to investigate the regulatory relationship between miR-524 and target genes in osteosarcoma.ResultsThe results showed that the miRNA with the most significant differential expression in osteosarcoma was miR-524, which was significantly up-regulated in both osteosarcoma tissues and cell lines. MiR-524 knockdown inhibited proliferation and promoted apoptosis of osteosarcoma cells, while overexpression of miR-524 induced their proliferation. Bioinformatics analysis and luciferase assay confirmed that PTEN was a direct target gene of miR-524 and that miR-524 induced proliferation of osteosarcoma cells through activation of the PI3K/AKT pathway via inhibition of PTEN.ConclusionsMiR-524 induces the proliferation of osteosarcoma cells through activation of the PI3K/AKT pathway via inhibition of the target gene PTEN, which provides a theoretical basis for selecting a new therapeutic target for osteosarcoma.

Highlights

Increasing numbers of studies have examined the correlation between specific miRNAs and tumours to enable their diagnosis and treatment
We found that miR-524 was highly expressed in osteosarcoma tissues and that differential expression was the most significant in the nine miRNAs (Fig. 1b, c)
Expression of miR-524 in osteosarcoma cell lines (MG63, 143B, Saos-2 and UMR-106) and normal osteoblasts was measured, and we found that miR-524 was highly expressed in osteosarcoma cells (Fig. 1d)

Summary

Introduction

Increasing numbers of studies have examined the correlation between specific miRNAs and tumours to enable their diagnosis and treatment. There are few reports regarding the concrete role and mechanism of miRNA in osteosarcoma. Osteosarcoma is a common primary malignant tumour derived from mesenchymal tissues and can be found in patients of all ages, but it most commonly occurs in children and adolescents. Sixty percent of patients with osteosarcoma are younger than 25 years old [1]. Osteosarcoma can occur in any bone in the body, but it is most often found in the distal femur, proximal tibia and proximal humerus and often involves the metaphysis. Osteosarcoma is highly malignant, and pulmonary metastasis often precedes resection of the primary tumour. MiRNA was recently discovered, and it is common in eukaryotes

Methods

Results

Conclusion