miR-522-3p Promotes Osteosarcoma Cell Growth By Regulating Glucose Uptake And GLUT1 Expression

PURPOSE: In a recent study, Kang et al reported a novel miRNA named miR-522-3p with critical roles in phagocytosis, in which GLUT1 played a critical role, indicating the possible interactions between them. This study aimed to investigate the role of miR-522-3p in osteosarcoma (OS). METHODS: Gene expression was analyzed by qPCR and Western blot. Overexpression experiments were performed to analyze gene interactions. Glucose uptake assay was performed to analyze the effects of glucose uptake in cells. CCK-8 assay was used to analyze cell proliferation. RESULTS: We found that miR-522-3p and GLUT1 were both upregulated in OS and positively correlated. Follow-up showed that high levels of miR-522-3p expression predicted poor survival. In OS cells, miR-522-3p overexpression led to upregulated GLUT1 expression and increase glucose uptake. Analysis of cell proliferation assay showed that overexpression of miR-522-3p and GLUT1 led to increased cell proliferate rates. In addition, GLUT1 siRNA silencing resulted in reduced effects of miR-522-3p overexpression. CONCLUSION: MiR-522-3p promotes OS cell growth through reprogramming glucose metabolism.