suppresses the tumor growth of natural killer/T-cell lymphoma via the axis.

Background: Natural killer/T cell lymphoma (NKTCL) is a rare and aggressive tumor of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The role of micro ribonucleic acid () () in NKTCL has not yet been elucidated. The present study aimed to investigate the potential role of in NKTCL.

Methods: The expression of the top five differentially expressed microRNAs (miRNAs) as well as sirtuin 6 () in NK normal cells and its tumor cell lines were explored. The clinical tissues of NKTCL patients were collected and analyzed for expression of and . In addition, human NK/T-cell lymphoma cells (SNK-6) were transfected into different groups to detect cell proliferation and apoptosis abilities through cell counting kit 8 (CCK-8) experiment and flow cytometry analysis. Western blot assay was employed to examine protein expression. NKTCL nude mice models were constructed by subcutaneous injection of stably transfected SNK-6 cells to validate the mechanism of in NKTCL via .

Results: was down-regulated in NKTCL tissues and cell lines. Overexpression of inhibited cell proliferation and promoted cell apoptosis. In contrast, was up-regulated in NKTCL and proved to be a downstream target of . could activate the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase ()/protein kinase B () signaling pathway. Also, mimic could suppress the proliferation and induce the apoptosis of NKTCL via the axis both and .

Conclusions: suppresses the pathway to restrain cell proliferation and accelerate cell apoptosis during NKTCL progression.