LncRNA TUSC8 inhibits the invasion and migration of cervical cancer cells via miR-641/PTEN axis

Cervical cancer (CC) is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death in women worldwide. There is an urgent need to find novel targets for the treatment of CC. Recently, microRNA have emerged as critical factors in tumorigenesis. In this study, we aimed to investigate the mechanism of miR-641 on the migration and invasion of CC cells. In silico analysis revealed putative interaction between miR-641 and phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) RNA/lncRNA tumor suppressor candidate 8 (TUSC8). Hence we evaluated the expression of TUSC8, miR-641, and PTEN. We found that the expressions of TUSC8 and PTEN were decreased in CC tissues, whereas miR-641 expression was increased. Inhibition of miR-641 suppressed the migration and invasion of Hela cells. In addition, TUSC8 and PTEN were upstream and downstream target molecule of miR-641, respectively. Overexpression of TUSC8 promoted PTEN expression, and suppressed the invasion and migration of Hela cells, whereas miR-641 mimic treatment changed the effects. These results demonstrated that overexpression of TUSC8 could inhibit the invasion and migration of CC cells by upregulating PTEN via miR-641.