title: MicroRNA-21 promotes cell proliferation and down-regulates the expression of programmed cell death 4 (PDCD4) in HeLa cervical carcinoma cells.
abstract: MicroRNAs are involved in cancer-related processes. The microRNA-21(miR-21) has been identified as the only miRNA over-expressed in a wide variety of cancers, including cervical cancer. However, the function of miR-21 is unknown in cervical carcinomas. In this study, we found that the inhibition of miR-21 in HeLa cervical cancer cells caused profound suppression of cell proliferation, and up-regulated the expression of the tumor suppressor gene PDCD4. We also provide direct evidence that PDCD4-3'UTR is a functional target of miR-21 and that the 18bp putative target site can function as the sole regulatory element in HeLa cells. These results suggest that miR-21 may play an oncogenic role in the cellular processes of cervical cancer and may serve as a target for effective therapies.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Gene Engineering of the Ministry of Education, State Key Laboratory for Biocontrol, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, PR China.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Qian-Qian
authors.initials: QQ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Liang-Hu
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Qu
mesh_terms: D020413:3' Untranslated Regions / Q000378:metabolism; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D050436:Regulatory Elements, Transcriptional; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D020413:3' Untranslated Regions; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; C524940:MIRN21 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs; C114487:PDCD4 protein, human; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins