MiR-200a promotes cell invasion and migration of ovarian carcinoma by targeting PTEN.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the role of miR-200a combined with PTEN in the progression of ovarian carcinoma.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: The human ovarian cancer tissues and normal adjacent tissues (n = 57) were obtained from our hospital. The human ovarian cancer cell lines OVCAR3 and A2780, the human ovarian surface epithelial cell line (HOSEpiC), and HEK293T cells were used in this study. Cell migration assay and invasion assay were used to detect the ability of cell migratory. Quantitative Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blotting were used to detect the expression of miRNA and proteins.

RESULTS: The clinic pathological analysis suggested a significant correlation with lymph node metastasis and tumor-lymph node metastasis (TNM) stage. Moreover, miR-200a was identified as aberrantly up-regulated in ovarian carcinoma tissues and cell lines. Through transwell analysis, the miR-200a overexpression significantly enhanced the cell migratory and invasive abilities. Luciferase assay validated phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) was a miR-200a's direct and functional target gene. The miR-200a overexpression reduced the PTEN expression in OVCAR3 cells while the expression of PTEN was increased via miR-200a inhibitor as confirmed by Western blot. Furthermore, over-expression of PTEN was found reversing the inhibition of cell migration and invasion caused by miR-200a.

CONCLUSIONS: MiR-200a has a carcinogenic effect on ovarian cancer through regulating PTEN.