title: MicroRNA-372 is down-regulated and targets cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) and cyclin A1 in human cervical cancer, which may contribute to tumorigenesis.
abstract: MicroRNAs are a class of noncoding RNAs that are ~22 nucleotides in length. MicroRNAs have been shown to play important roles in cell differentiation and in cancer. Recently, studies have shown that miR-372 is tumorigenic in human reproductive system cancers. However, we provide evidence that miR-372 acts as a tumor suppressor gene in cervical carcinoma. miR-372 was found down-regulated in cervical carcinoma tissues as compared with adjacent normal cervical tissues. Growth curve and FACS assays indicated that ectopic expression of miR-372 suppressed cell growth and induced arrest in the S/G₂ phases of cell cycle in HeLa cells. We used bioinformatic predictions to determine that CDK2 and cyclin A1 were possible targets of miR-372 and confirmed this prediction using a fluorescent reporter assay. Taken together, these findings indicate that an anti-oncogenic role of miR-372 may be through control of cell growth and cell cycle progression by down-regulating the cell cycle genes CDK2 and cyclin A1.
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Life Science Research Center and Basic Medical School, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300070, China.
authors.forename: Rui-Qing
authors.initials: RQ
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.forename: Xing-Hua
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Li-Juan
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.forename: Wei-Hua
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Yi-Xuan
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tang
mesh_terms: D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000235:genetics; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D056750:Cyclin A1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D051357:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 2 / Q000172:deficiency / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015536:Down-Regulation / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000235:genetics; D055785:Gene Knockdown Techniques; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D056750:Cyclin A1; C561021:MIRN372 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D051357:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 2