title: MicroRNA-181b Inhibits Cellular Proliferation and Invasion of Glioma Cells via Targeting Sal-Like Protein 4.
abstract: MicroRNAs (miRs), a class of noncoding RNAs that are 18-25 nucleotides in length, are able to suppress gene expression by targeting complementary regions of mRNAs and inhibiting protein translation. Recently, miR-181b was found to play a suppressive role in glioma, but the regulatory mechanism of miR-181b in the malignant phenotypes of glioma cells remains largely unclear. In this study, we found that miR-181b was significantly downregulated in glioma tissues when compared with normal brain tissues, and decreased miR-181b levels were significantly associated with high-grade pathology and a poor prognosis for patients with glioma. Moreover, miR-181b was downregulated in glioma cell lines (U87, SHG44, U373, and U251) compared to normal astrocytes. Overexpression of miR-181b significantly decreased the proliferation, migration, and invasion of glioma U251 cells. Sal-like protein 4 (SALL4) was identified as a novel target gene of miR-181b in U251 cells. The expression of SALL4 was significantly upregulated in glioma tissues and cell lines, and an inverse correlation was observed between the miR-181b and SALL4 expression levels in glioma. Further investigation showed that the protein expression of SALL4 was negatively regulated by miR-181b in U251 cells. Knockdown of SALL4 significantly inhibited the proliferation, migration, and invasion of U251 cells, while overexpression of SALL4 effectively reversed the suppressive effects of miR-181b on these malignant phenotypes of U251 cells. In conclusion, our study demonstrates that miR-181b has a suppressive effect on the malignant phenotypes of glioma cells, at least partly, by directly targeting SALL4. Therefore, the miR-181b/SALL4 axis may become a potential therapeutic target for glioma.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yugang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jiang
mesh_terms: D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000235:genetics; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D005910:Glioma / Q000235:genetics / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: C540193:MIrn181 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs; C472575:SALL4 protein, human; D014157:Transcription Factors