title: microRNA-146b inhibits glioma cell migration and invasion by targeting MMPs.
abstract: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of endogenous, small non-protein coding single-stranded RNA molecules, which are crucial post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression. Previous studies have shown that miRNAs participate in a wide range of biological functions and play important roles in various human diseases including glioma. However, the role of miRNAs in mediating glioblastoma cell migration and invasion has not been elucidated. Using miRNA microarray, we identified miR-146b as one of the miRNAs that is significantly dysregulated in human glioblastoma tissue. We showed that miR-146b overexpression by transfection with the precursor miR-146b, or knock-down by Locked Nucleic Acid (LNA)-modified anti-miR-146b, has no effect on the growth of human glioblastoma U373 cells. However, precursor miR-146b transfection significantly reduced the migration and invasion of U373 cells, while LNA-anti-miR-146b transfection generated the opposite result. Furthermore, we discovered that a matrix metalloproteinase gene, MMP16, is one of the downstream targets of miR-146b. Taken together, our findings suggest that miR-146b is involved in glioma cell migration and invasion by targeting MMPs, and implicate miR-146b as a metastasis-inhibiting miRNA in glioma.
authors.affiliation: Integrative Chemical Biology Laboratory, Institute of Molecular Technology, Department of Chemistry, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Hongping
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.forename: Yanting
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.forename: Samuel S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.forename: Xiaona
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Shen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Ruiguang
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ge
authors.forename: Songshan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Guo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yangchao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Ming-Liang
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Hsiang-fu
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Kung
authors.forename: Lihui
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: Marie C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D002455:Cell Division / Q000235:genetics; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000235:genetics*; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D005910:Glioma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000556:secondary; D006801:Humans; D053513:Matrix Metalloproteinase 16 / Q000235:genetics*; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D014162:Transfection
chemical_list: C542542:MIRN146 microRNA, human; C507102:MMP16 protein, human; D035683:MicroRNAs; D053513:Matrix Metalloproteinase 16