BACKGROUND: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a type of head and neck cancer with very high prevalence in southern China. Phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN), a tumor suppressor, was reported to be downregulated in NPC patients and correlated with pathological grade and clinical stage of NPC.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Luciferase reporter assay, qPCR, and Western blot analysis were used to determine if PTEN is a target of miR-152. The function of miR-152 in cell apoptosis and cell proliferation was examined as well. Tissue samples from NPC patients were also analyzed for PTEN and miR-152 expressions.

RESULTS: Reporter assay indicated miR-152 targets the 3’UTR of PTEN mRNA to inhibit PTEN expression. Transfection of the NPC-derived cell line with miR-152 mimic confirmed these findings. Overexpression of miRNA-152 inhibits apoptosis induced by Cisplatin in NPC cancer cells in vitro. Moreover, overexpression miR-152 also promotes NPC cancer cell invasion and proliferation. Samples from EBV-negative NPC patients demonstrated the down-regulated level of PTEN may be related with overexpression of miR-152.

CONCLUSIONS: The miR-152 targets PETN to inhibit cell apoptosis and promote cancer cell proliferation and migration in NPC development.

Keywords: Apoptosis - genetics, Cisplatin - pharmacology, Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms - pathology, PTEN Phosphohydrolase - metabolism, Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt - metabolism, RNA, Messenger - metabolism