Propofol-induced miR-125a-5p inhibits the proliferation and metastasis of ovarian cancer by suppressing LIN28B

Propofol, a commonly used intravenous anesthetic agent during surgery, has relatively widespread pharmacological actions. Previous studies have reported that propofol may act as an antitumor drug in several cancer types, such as pancreatic cancer, lung cancer and gastric cancer. However, the underlying mechanism in ovarian cancer remain unknown. Therefore, the present study investigated the pharmacological effect of propofol on microRNAs (miRNAs) in ovarian cancer treatment. Propofol (1, 5 or 10 µg/ml) was used to treat A2780 and SKOV3 ovarian cancer cells for 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 days. The MTT assay was used to detect cell viability, while wound healing and Transwell assays were utilized to assess the invasive and migratory abilities. The bioinformatics prediction approach identified differentially expressed miRNAs (miRs) that were used in Gene Ontology, Gene Set Enrichment Analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analyses. The expression levels of miR-125a-5p and lin-28 homolog B (LIN28B) were evaluated by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). A luciferase assay was performed to identify the relationship between miR-125a-5p and LIN28B. Western blotting was conducted to measure the protein expression of LIN28B. It was demonstrated that propofol significantly upregulated miR-125a-5p to exert its antitumor activity. RT-qPCR results suggested that propofol could upregulate miR-125a-5p and LIN28B expression levels in ovarian cancer cell lines. Western blot analysis also indicated that propofol could enhance the expression of LIN28B in ovarian cancer cell lines. The luciferase assay identified that miR-125a-5p could directly inhibit the expression of LIN28B to suppress proliferation and metastasis in ovarian cancer. In conclusion, these results suggested that propofol inhibited ovarian cancer proliferation and metastasis by enhancing miR-125a-5p, which targets LIN28B.