MicroRNA-1297 contributes to the progression of human cervical carcinoma through PTEN.

Background: The human cervical carcinoma oncogenic mechanisms still remain elusive. Thus, we proposed to understand the biological role of a newly discovered therapeutic miRNA.

Methods: MiR-1297 related to human cervical carcinoma was selected for this study. TaqMan qRT- PCR assay was used to profile miRNA, phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) expression in randomly chosen tumour with non-tumour tissues, and the apoptosis factors expression. Cell proliferation was monitored by CCK-8 assay and colony formation assay. Apoptosis was determined by flow cytometry. Protein level was determined by western blotting. 3'UTR was performed to validate the direct binding sites of miR-1297 on PTEN. SPSS was used for statistical analyses.

Results: MiR-1297 is repressed and PTEN activated in human cervical cancer tissues. After miR-1297 overexpression, HeLa cells had an increase in cell proliferation and decrease in apoptosis. PTEN expression is negatively correlation with miR-1297. PTEN silencing display the similar pattern as miRNA-1297 overexpression to inhibit HeLa cell growth and apoptosis in vitro.

Conclusions: Our data indicate that miR-1297 contribute to the human cervical carcinoma through PTEN. miR-1297 could be a reasonable miRNA for future studies.