Open Access

ARTICLE

Downregulation of miR-222 Induces Apoptosis and Cellular Migration in Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma Cells

Ziliang Zhou^*†1, Lijie Zhou^*‡1, Fangfang Jiang^*, Binghui Zeng^*, Changbo Wei^*, Wei Zhao^*, Dongsheng Yu^*

* Guanghua School of Stomatology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Stomatology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, P.R. China
† Department of Stomatology, Xiangyang Hospital of Chancheng District, Foshan, Guangdong, P.R. China
‡ Department of Stomatology, The Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children’s Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, P.R. China
1 These authors provided equal contribution to this work.

Oncology Research 2017, 25(2), 207-214. https://doi.org/10.3727/096504016X14732772150460

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that miR-222 targets the p53 upregulated modulator of apoptosis (PUMA) to regulate cell biological behavior in some human malignancies. We hypothesized that there was a negative regulation, which might induce apoptosis, between miR-222 and PUMA in adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC). In this study, the expression levels of miR-222 and the PUMA gene after transfection with antisense miR-222 (As-miR-222) were evaluated by RT-PCR and Western blot assays. Cell proliferation and migratory abilities were detected by CCK-8 and Transwell assays. Cell cycle and apoptosis were analyzed by flow cytometry. Our results showed that, when compared with the control and scramble-transfected groups, the expression of miR- 222 in the As-miR-222 group was downregulated, while the expression of PUMA at both mRNA and protein levels was upregulated, cell proliferation and migratory abilities were inhibited, and apoptosis was increased. Our results suggested that As-miR-222 transfection could upregulate the expression of PUMA to induce apoptosis in ACC, providing a new concept for the treatment of ACC.

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