Roles of microRNA-99 family in human glioma

OBJECTIVE: Deregulation of microRNA (miR)-99 family members (miR-99a, miR-99b, and miR-100) has been reported to play a crucial role in many cancer types. However, their roles in human gliomas have not been fully elucidated. This study aimed to investigate the expression patterns of miR-99a, miR-99b, and miR-100 in glioma tissues and to evaluate their expression profiles with respect to tumor progression. METHODS: Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was performed to detect the expression levels of miR-99a, miR-99b, and miR-100 in glioma and matched non-neoplastic brain tissues. Then, the associations of their expression with various clinicopathological features of glioma patients were statistically analyzed. Moreover, the roles of miR-99a, miR-99b, and miR-100 in regulating glioma cell migration and invasion were determined via transwell assay in vitro. RESULTS: Compared with non-neoplastic brain tissues, miR-99a, miR-99b, and miR-100 expression levels were all significantly decreased in glioma tissues (all P<0.001). miR-99a-low, miR-99b-low, and miR-100-low expression more frequently occurred in glioma patients with low Karnofsky performance score (<90) and high World Health Organization grade (III–IV). Further functional experiments revealed that the enforced expression of miR-99a, miR-99b, and miR-100 resulted in the inhibition of cellular migration and invasion in glioma cells. CONCLUSION: Our results strongly suggest that the aberrant expression of miR-99a, miR-99b, and miR-100 may be a common feature in human gliomas with aggressive clinicopathological features and may participate in malignant phenotypes of the tumors. These findings highlight the potential of the three miR-99 family members as novel therapeutic targets for human gliomas.