title: miR-218 expression in osteosarcoma tissues and its effect on cell growth in osteosarcoma cells.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the expression of miR-218 and its clinical significance in osteosarcoma tissues and explore its effect on proliferation and apoptosis in osteosarcoma cells.
  
  
  METHODS
  miR-218 expression was detected in 76 samples of surgically resected osteosarcoma and matched normal tumor-adjacent tissues using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). MiR-218 was over-expressed by exogenous miR-218 plasmids in Saos-2 cells, and then BrdU cell proliferation assay and flow cytometry were used to determine cell proliferation and apoptosis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The expression of miR-218 in osteosarcoma tissues was significantly lower than those in normal tumor-adjacent tissues (t=8.735, P<0.001). MiR-218 expression in tumor tissues was significantly correlated with tumor size (χ(2)=5.380, P=0.020), clinical stage (χ(2)=6.692, P=0.010) and distant metastasis (χ(2)=4.180, P=0.041). MiR-218 was obviously over-expressed by exogenous miR-218 plasmids (t=19.42, P<0.001), and miR-218 overexpression significantly reduced cell proliferation (t=9.045, P<0.001) and induced apoptosis (t=12.38, P<0.001) in Saos-2 cells.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The low-expression of miR-218 is correlated with the poor clinicopathological features in osteosarcoma. Moreover, miR-218 overexpression reduces cancer cell proliferation and induces apoptosis in Saos-2 cells, suggesting that miR-218 may play a key role in the progression of human osteosarcoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, PLA 180 Hospital, Quanzhou 362000, China.
authors.forename: Hong-Tai
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, PLA 180 Hospital, Quanzhou 362000, China.
authors.forename: Ai-Gang
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Basic Medical College, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350108, China.
authors.forename: Dao-Shu
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, PLA 180 Hospital, Quanzhou 362000, China.
authors.forename: Zhang-Nan
authors.initials: ZN
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, PLA 180 Hospital, Quanzhou 362000, China.
authors.forename: Hong-Guang
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, PLA 180 Hospital, Quanzhou 362000, China.
authors.forename: Rong-Zi
authors.initials: RZ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Zhangzhou Hospital Affiliated to Fujian Medical University, Zhangzhou 363000, China.
authors.forename: Jin-Shui
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, PLA 180 Hospital, Quanzhou 362000, China. Electronic address: chenkun2323@163.com.
authors.forename: Kun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chen
keywords: Apoptosis; MiR-218; Osteosarcoma; Proliferation