Suppressive effect of microRNA-124 on proliferation and apoptosis of glioma cell line A172 in vitro

objective To investigate the effects of microRNA-124 (miR-124) on proliferation and apoptosis of glioma cell line A172.Methods The oligonucleotides of miR-124 mediated by lipofectamine 2000 were transected to routinely cultured A172 cells; untransfected group and nonsense sequence-transfected group were employed as controls.The mRNA expressions of miR-124 and its target gene ROCK2 were identified by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) after transfection; the protein expressions of Caspase-3 and ROCK2 were identified by Western blotting; the cell proliferation was determined by methylthiazol tetrazolium (MTT) assay; the number of apoptotic cells was determined by Annexin V assay.Results As compared with those in control groups,the expression of miR-124 was significantly increased and that of ROCK2 was significantly decreased in the miR-124 transfected group (P＜0.05).Caspase-3 protein expression was significantly higher and ROCK2 protein expression was statistically lower in the miR-124 transfected group than those in the control groups (P＜0.05).The proliferation activity of cells was significantly reduced and cell apoptosis was significantly increased in the miR-124 transfected group on the fourth and fifth d of transfection as compared with those in the control groups (P＜0.05).Conclusion MiR-124 could inhibit the proliferation and induce the apoptosis of A172 glioma cells,suggesting that the mechanism related with decrease of its target gene ROCK2 expressions. Key words: MicroRNA;  Glioma;  Proliferation;  Apoptosis