MicroRNA-372 Is Down-regulated and Targets Cyclin-dependent Kinase 2 (CDK2) and Cyclin A1 in Human Cervical Cancer, Which May Contribute to Tumorigenesis

• Published in: The Journal of biological chemistry Vol. 286; no. 29; pp. 25556 - 25563
• Main Authors: Tian, Rui-Qing, Wang, Xing-Hua, Hou, Li-Juan, Jia, Wei-Hua, Yang, Qian, Li, Yi-Xuan, Liu, Min, Li, Xin, Tang, Hua
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 22.07.2011; American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
• Subjects: Anti-oncogene; CDK (Cyclin-dependent Kinase); Cell Cycle; Cell Cycle - genetics; Cell Proliferation; Cellular Regulation; Cyclin A1 - genetics; Cyclin A1 - metabolism; Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 2 - deficiency; Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 2 - genetics; Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 2 - metabolism; Cyclins; Down-Regulation - genetics; Female; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic - genetics; Gene Knockdown Techniques; Gene Regulation; HeLa Cells; Humans; MicroRNA; MicroRNAs - genetics; RNA, Messenger - genetics; RNA, Messenger - metabolism; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - genetics; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - metabolism; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - pathology; CDK (Cyclin-dependent Kinase); Cellular Regulation; MicroRNA; Cell Cycle; Anti-oncogene; Cyclins
• ISSN: 0021-9258; 1083-351X
• DOI: 10.1074/jbc.M111.221564

MicroRNAs are a class of noncoding RNAs that are ∼22 nucleotides in length. MicroRNAs have been shown to play important roles in cell differentiation and in cancer. Recently, studies have shown that miR-372 is tumorigenic in human reproductive system cancers. However, we provide evidence that miR-372 acts as a tumor suppressor gene in cervical carcinoma. miR-372 was found down-regulated in cervical carcinoma tissues as compared with adjacent normal cervical tissues. Growth curve and FACS assays indicated that ectopic expression of miR-372 suppressed cell growth and induced arrest in the S/G2 phases of cell cycle in HeLa cells. We used bioinformatic predictions to determine that CDK2 and cyclin A1 were possible targets of miR-372 and confirmed this prediction using a fluorescent reporter assay. Taken together, these findings indicate that an anti-oncogenic role of miR-372 may be through control of cell growth and cell cycle progression by down-regulating the cell cycle genes CDK2 and cyclin A1.