MiR-130b can suppress proliferation of glioma cells through targeting PTEN to regulate AKT pathway.

Purpose: To study the mechanism of action of micro ribonucleic acid (miR)-130b in the proliferation and apoptosis of glioma cells, and to determine whether it regulates the target gene phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome ten (PTEN). Methods: The effects of miR-130b silencing on the proliferation and apoptosis of LN229 cells were detected using cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay, colony formation assay and flow cytometry. The changes in the mRNA level of PTEN after miR-130b silencing were determined through quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The effects of miR-130b on protein kinase B (AKT) signaling pathway-related proteins were determined through Western blotting. Results: Compared with that in normal human astrocytes, the expression of miR-130b was significantly up-regulated in the three kinds of glioma cell lines (p<0.05). Silencing of miR-130b reduced the proliferation (p<0.05) and the colony formation of LN229 cells (p<0.05), and obviously increased their apoptosis (p<0.05), suggesting that silenced miR-130b is a growth inhibitor of glioma cells in vitro. The luciferase reporter assay confirmed that miR-130b directly binds to the 3'-untranslated region (3'UTR) of PTEN to suppress its expression. After transfection with the miR-130b inhibitor, both mRNA and protein expressions of PTEN were up-regulated (p<0.05). Moreover, after silencing miR-130b, the phosphorylation of AKT was remarkably inhibited, while the cancer suppressor gene p27 was up-regulated. Conclusions: The carcinogenic effect of miR-130b in glioma was clarified in this study. Silencing of miR-130b may inhibit the AKT signaling pathway through up-regulating PTEN, thereby suppressing the proliferation of glioma cells.