MiR-34a Regulates Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Radiosensitivity by Targeting SIRT1

• Published in: Technology in cancer research & treatment Vol. 19
• Main Authors: Liu, Yang, Li, Qinshan, Liang, Huiling, Xiang, Miaomiao, Tang, Dongxin, Huang, Mei, Tao, Yixi, Ren, Min, Zhao, Mei, Wang, Jishi, Shu, Liping, He, Zhixu, Wang, Feiqing, Li, Yanju
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 2020; Sage Publications Ltd; SAGE Publishing
• Subjects: Apoptosis; Bioinformatics; Cancer; Cell proliferation; Flow cytometry; Head & neck cancer; Head and neck carcinoma; Migration inhibition; Nasopharyngeal carcinoma; Original; Polymerase chain reaction; Radiation; Radiation therapy; Radiosensitivity; Reverse transcription; SIRT1 protein; Throat cancer; Transfection; Tumor cell lines; Western blotting; nasopharyngeal carcinoma; miR-34a; SIRT1; radiosensitivity
• ISSN: 1533-0346; 1533-0338
• DOI: 10.1177/1533033820940424

Background/Aims:
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma is a common head and neck cancer in South China and Southeast Asia. Radiotherapy is the standard treatment for nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Accumulating evidence showed that the expression of miR-34a was abnormal in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Here, this study investigates the effect of miR-34a on radiosensitivity of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells and explored the underlying mechanisms.
Methods:
Reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to analyze the expression of miR-34a in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell lines and NP69 cells. The effect of miR-34a on radiosensitivity of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (CNE-1 cells) was evaluated by Cell Counting Kit-8, flow cytometry, and Transwell migration assays following transfection with miR-34a mimic. Luciferase reporter assay was used to assess the target genes of miR-34a.
Results:
In this study, it revealed that miR-34a was downregulated, while silent information regulator 1 was upregulated in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell lines. The overexpression of miR-34a enhanced radiation-induced proliferation and migration inhibition and apoptosis in CNE-1 cells. Bioinformatics, Luciferase reporter, reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and Western blotting assays indicated that silent information regulator 1 is a direct target of miR-34a in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells. Knockdown of silent information regulator 1 enhanced radiosensitivity of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells as evidenced by increasing proliferation and migration inhibition and apoptosis after radiation exposure.
Conclusion:
In summary, our results indicated that the overexpression of miR-34a enhanced radiosensitivity of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells by targeting silent information regulator 1. Further studies are warranted to investigate the potential use of miR-34a in the clinical management and treatment prediction of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.