MicroRNA-34b/c suppresses uveal melanoma cell proliferation and migration through multiple targets

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenously expressed, small noncoding RNAs that inhibit gene expression by binding to target mRNAs. Recent studies have revealed that miRNAs function as tumor suppressors or oncogenes. In the present study, we investigated the role of miRNA-34b/c in uveal melanoma.

Real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was performed to detect the expression level of miR-34b/c in uveal melanoma cells and primary samples. Subsequently, uveal melanoma cell proliferation was examined by the MTS (3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-5-[3-carboxymethoxyphenyl]-2-[4-sulfophenyl] -2H-tetrazolium, inner salt) assay, clone formation assay, and flow cytometry. Cell apoptosis was measured by caspase3/7 assay. Cell migration was evaluated by transwell migration assay. The target of miR-34b/c was predicted by bioinformatics and validated by luciferase assay. In addition, the effect of miR-34b/c on c-Met, cell cycle-related proteins, v-akt murine thymoma viral oncogene homolog (Akt) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway was determined by western blotting.

miR-34b/c expression, which was dramatically decreased in uveal melanoma cells and clinical samples, can be upregulated by doxorubicin and epigenetic drugs. The transfection of miR-34b/c into uveal melanoma cells leads to a significant reduction in cell growth and migration. miR-34b/c caused cell cycle G(1) arrest rather than the induction of apoptosis. Met proto-oncogene (c-Met) was identified as a target of miR-34b/c in uveal melanoma cells. Furthermore, miR-34b/c was confirmed to downregulate the expression of c-Met, p-Akt, and cell cycle-related proteins by western blotting.

Our results demonstrate that both miR-34b and miR-34c act as tumor suppressors in uveal melanoma cell proliferation and migration through the downregulation of multiple targets.