Open Access

ARTICLE

hsa-miR-181a-5p inhibits glioblastoma development via the MAPK pathway: in-silico and in-vitro study

MAHDI ABDOLI SHADBAD¹, BEHZAD BARADARAN^2,*

1 Student Research Committee, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
2 Immunology Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran

* Corresponding Author: BEHZAD BARADARAN. Email:

Oncology Research 2024, 32(12), 1949-1958. https://doi.org/10.32604/or.2024.051569

Received 08 March 2024; Accepted 22 May 2024; Issue published 13 November 2024

Abstract

Background: Glioblastoma remains a highly invasive primary brain malignancy with an undesirable prognosis. Growing evidence has shed light on the importance of microRNAs (miRs), as small non-coding RNAs, in tumor development and progression. The present study leverages the in-silico and in-vitro techniques to investigate the significance of hsa-miR-181a-5p and the underlying hsa-miR-181a-5p-meidated signaling pathway in glioblastoma development. Methods: Bioinformatic studies were performed on GSE158284, GSE108474 (REMBRANDT study), TCGA-GTEx, CCLE, GeneMANIA, Reactome, WikiPathways, KEGG, miRDB, and microT-CDS to identify the significance of hsa-miR-181a-5p and its underlying target. Afterward, the U373 cell line was selected and transfected with hsa-miR-181a-5p mimics, and the cell viability, clonogenicity, migration, mRNA expression, apoptosis, and cell cycle were studied using the MTT assay, colony formation test, migration assay, qRT-PCR, and flow cytometry respectively. Results: hsa-miR-181a-5p expression is decreased in glioblastoma samples. The in-silico results have shown that hsa-miR-181a-5p could regulate the MAPK pathway by targeting AKT3. The experimental assays have shown that hsa-miR-181a-5p decreases the migration of glioblastoma cells, arrests the cell cycle, and increases the apoptosis rate. Besides downregulating MMP9 and upregulating BAX, hsa-miR-181a-5p downregulates MET, MAP2K1, MAPK1, MAPK3, and AKT3 expression in U373 cells. The in-vitro results were consistent with in-silico results regarding the regulatory effect of hsa-miR-181a-5p on the MAPK pathway, leading to tumor suppression in glioblastoma. Conclusions: hsa-miR-181a-5p inhibits glioblastoma development partially by regulating the signaling factors of the MAPK pathway.

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