Effects of LncRNA Metastasis-Associated Lung Adenocarcinoma Transcript 1 (MALAT1) Regulating Bcl-2 on Glioma Cell Proliferation and Apoptosis Through Regulating MiR-204 Expression

Objective: To investigate lncRNA MALAT1's effect on glioma cell proliferation and apoptosis. Methods: qRT-PCR was applied to detect the MALAT1 RNA expression in para-carcinoma and carcinoma tissues of patients with brain glioma. After MALAT1 knockdown with small interfering RNA (siRNA) in U87 cell line, MALAT1 and miR-204 expression levels were measured by qRT-PCR and cell proliferation was measured by CCK-8 assay. The U87 cell line with overexpressed miR-204 expression was constructed and miR-204 expression was detected by qRT-PCR. The CCK-8 assay and flow cytometer were adopted to determine cell proliferation and apoptosis, respectively. Annexin V/propidium iodide (AV/PI) staining was conducted to detect cell apoptosis. Targets can target gene prediction website predicted the target of miR-204 and Bcl-2 level was detected by qRT-PCR and Western blot. Results: MALAT1 RNA in glioma tissues was significantly upregulated compared to para-carcinoma tissues (p < 0.05). After MALAT1 RNA expression was down-regulated by transfecting of MALAT1 siRNA, miR-204 expression was elevated, while cell viability was reduced. Moreover, overexpression of miR-204 significantly decreased Bcl-2 mRNA and protein level (p < 0.05), reduced cell viability (p < 0.05), and increased cell apoptosis rate (p < 0.05). Conclusion: miR-204 can be up-regulated by suppressing lncRNA MALAT1 expression, thus controlling Bcl-2 expression, resulting in inhibition of proliferation of glioma cells and promotion of cell apoptosis.