miR-135a inhibits glioma cell proliferation and invasion by directly targeting FOXO1

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the potential function of miR-135a in glioma. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 50 pairs of glioma tissue samples and para-carcinoma tissue samples were collected. Human glioma cell line (U251) and normal human astrocyte (NHA) were cultured. The expression of RNA and protein was detected by quantitative Real time-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blot, respectively. Cell proliferation assay and transwell assay were used to detect the activities of proliferation and invasion. Luciferase reporter assays were carried out to determine the binding efficiency between forkhead box O1 (FOXO1) and miR-135a in U251 cells. RESULTS: qRT-PCR results showed that miR-135a expression was significantly reduced while FOXO1 was up-regulated in glioma tissues. miR-135a overexpression in U251 cells could prominently inhibit proliferation and invasion according to the transwell assays. Moreover. FOXO1 was recognized as the target for miR-135a and may partially reverse the functions of miR-135a in U251 cells. CONCLUSIONS: We showed that miR-135a inhibits glioma cell proliferation and invasion by down-regulating the target gene FOXO1.