Affiliations: [a] Department of General Surgery, Guangdong General Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China | [b] Department of General Surgery, Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine of Zhongshan, Zhongshan, Guangdong, China
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: G. Zhao, Department of General Surgery, Guangdong General Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Zhongshan Second Road, 510080 Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. Tel.: +86 020 83827812; E-mail:Zhaoganghrb@sina.com
Abstract:
BACKGROUND: Analysis using publicly available algorithms has found
that high mobility group AT-hook 2 (HMGA2), a key transcriptional regulatory
factor, is a potential target of microRNA-204 (miR-204). Some studies have
shown that both miR-204 and HMGA2 are associated with cancer development. OBJECTIVE: We examined the possible relationship between miR-204
and HMGA2 in the development of thyroid cancer. METHODS: We assessed miR-204 expression in thyroid cancer specimens
and cell lines using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Luciferase
reporter assay was used to confirm the target associations. The effect of
miR-204 on cell proliferation was confirmed with tetrazolium and colony
formation assays. Gene and protein expression were examined using real-time
PCR and western blotting, respectively. RESULTS: MiR-204 was downregulated in the thyroid cancer specimens
and cell lines, and targeted the 3^\prime untranslated region of HMGA2
directly. MiR-204 overexpression decreased cyclin D1 and Ki67 expression and
increased P21 expression, which subsequently inhibited thyroid cancer cell
proliferation. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that miR-204 plays a protective
role by inhibiting thyroid cancer cell proliferation, and may identify new
targets for anti-cancer treatment.
Keywords: MiR-204, HMGA2, proliferation, thyroid cancer
