miR-3929 Inhibits Proliferation and Promotes Apoptosis by Downregulating Cripto-1 Expression in Cervical Cancer Cells

In this study, we focused on the post-transcriptional regulation of Cripto-1 expression and analyzed the potential miRNAs that bind to the 3 ′UTR of Cripto-1 mRNA. miR-3929 was found to be able to bind to the 3′UTR and downregulate the expression of Cripto-1 in cervical cancer cells. Then, we analyzed the effect of miR-3929 on the biological behavior of cervical cancer cells, finding that miR-3929 could reduce cell viability, DNA syn thesis, and Ki67 expression and induce cell cycle arrest in the G2/M phase; overexpression of Cripto-1 reversed the inhibitory effect of miR-3929 on proliferation. Moreover, DAPI staining and flow cytometry revealed that miR-3929-induced cell apoptosis is dependent on the mitochondrial pathway; the overexpression of Cripto-1 reversed the proapoptotic effect of miR-3929. Finally, the in vivo results showed that miR-3929 significantly inhibits the growth of HeLa xenograft tumors in nude mice. Therefore, our findings suggest that miR-3929 inhibits the proliferation and induces the apoptosis of ce rvical cancer cells by downregulating Cripto-1 via specifically targeting the 3′UTR of its mRNA.Cytogenet Genome Res
Source: Cytogenetic and Genome Research - Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Source Type: research