title: MicroRNA-138 inhibits proliferation of cervical cancer cells by targeting c-Met.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  MicroRNAs (miRNAs) function as important post-transcriptional regulators involved in a wide range of biological behaviors. MicroRNA-138 (miR-138) has been shown to play a critical role in tumor pathogenesis, the present study aimed to investigate the role of miR-138 in cervical cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  CCK-8 assay was performed to measure the viabilities of cancer cells. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and western blot were used to detect the mRNA and protein expression, respectively. Moreover, the miRNA target genes were validated with luciferase activity assay.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the current study, we found that the expression of miR-138 was significantly down-regulated in cervical cancer tissues compared to the adjacent non-cancer tissues. CCK-8 assay showed that over-expression of miR-138 suppressed the proliferation of four cervical cancer cell lines including HeLa, SiHa, C33A and CaSki. By contrast, down-regulation of miR-138 promoted the growth of cervical cancer cells. In addition, increased expression of miR-138 led to a reduction in c-Met expression, whereas inhibition of miR-138 enhanced c-Met levels in cervical cancer cells. The luciferase reporter assay showed that c-Met was a direct target of miR-138 in cervical cancer cells.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings demonstrated that miR-138 inhibited cervical cancer cells proliferation via c-Met, providing a novel target for the molecular treatment of cervical cancer.
authors.affiliation: Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, Harbin, China. libing890401@126.com.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: X-X
authors.initials: XX
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: H-K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Ji
mesh_terms: D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D019859:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-met / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: C546110:MIRN138 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs; D019859:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-met