microRNA-449a functions as a tumor-suppressor in gastric adenocarcinoma by targeting Bcl-2

作者：Wei Bin^*; Song Ying; Zhang Yonghong; Hu Mingjun

来源：Oncology Letters, 2013, 6(6): 1713-1718.

DOI：10.3892/ol.2013.1609

• miR-449a
• Bcl-2
• gastric adenocarcinoma
• caspase 3
• caspase 7
• apoptosis

microRNAs (miRNAs or miRs) may function as oncogenes or tumor suppressors. The present study identified that miR-449a was downregulated in human gastric cancer. The overexpression of miR-449a inhibited gastric adenocarcinoma cell growth and promoted cell apoptosis in the MGC-803 and SGC-7901 gastric adenocarcinoma cell lines. Subsequently, Bcl-2 was identified as a potential miR-449a target by bioinformatics analysis. It was also shown that Bcl-2 was negatively regulated by miR-449a at the post-transcriptional level, via a specific target site within the 3-untranslated region (3UTR), by luciferase reporter assay. The expression of miR-449a induced cell apoptosis, as observed by TdT-mediated dUTP nick end labeling and caspase 3/7 assays, and was rescued by Bcl-2 expression. Therefore, these observations indicate that miR-449a acts as a tumor suppressor by targeting the Bcl-2 gene and that it promotes gastric adenocarcinoma cell apoptosis via Bcl-2. The findings of this study contribute to or current understanding of the functions of miR-449a in gastric adenocarcinoma.

• 出版日期2013-12