MicroRNA-218 modulates activities of glioma cells by targeting HMGB1

To explore the effects of microRNA-218 (miR-218) on glioma cell lines and the related mechanism. U251 and U87 cells were transfected with negative control, miR-218 mimic or miR-218 inhibitor using lipofectamine 2000. The expressions of mRNA and proteins were detected with qRT-PCR and Western blotting. The cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration and invasion were studied using MTT, flow cytometry, Transwell assay and scratch-wound assay, respectively. The targeting effect of HMGB1 by miR-218 was measured with luciferase reporter assay. The results showed that miR-218 was significantly downregulated while HMGB1 was upregulated in both glioma cell lines. Transfection of miR-218 significantly reduced the cell viability and colony formation, increased cell apoptosis and arrested cell in G0/G1 phase. Transfection of miR-218 also decreased the invasion and migration of glioma cells. The expressions of HMGB1, RAGE, cyclin D1 and MMP-9 were downregulated while the expression of caspase-9 was upregulated by miR-218. Silencing HMGB1 increased the expression of RAGE, cyclin D1, MMP-9 but decreased the expression of caspase-9 in U251 and U87 cells. Co-transfection with pcHMGB1 and miR-218 significantly decreased the growth inhibition and increased the apoptosis of glioma cells while these effects were abolished in glioma cells co-transfected with HMGB1 siRNA and miR-218 inhibitor. In addition, co-transfection with pcHMGB1 and miR-218 inhibitor increased the invasiveness of U251 and U87 cells. These findings suggested that miR-218 may negatively regulate HMGB-mediated suppression of RAGE to regulate cell proliferation, apoptosis and invasion, and that intervention of miR-218-HMGB1-RAGE may be useful for developing potential clinical strategies.