Effect of knocking down miR-19a on proliferation and apoptosis of human glioma cell line U251 in vitro

Objective To investigate the effect of knocking down miR -19a on proliferation and apoptosis of human glioma cell line U251 in vitro. Methods U251 cells were cultured routinely. MiR-19a inhibitor was transfected into U251 cells by Lipofectamine 2000. At the same time, the negative control group and blank control group were established. The expression level of miR-19a was detected by RT-PCR. and cell proliferation was analyzed by CCK-8 assay. The changes of cell apoptosis and cycle were monitored by flow cytometry. Results Compared with the negative control group and blank control group, qRT-PCR showed that the expression level of miR-19a was significantly reduced after transfection (F = 124.72, P < 0.01). CCK-8 revealed that proliferation ability of miR-19a inhibitor group was significantly suppressed. The cell survival rate in miR-19a inhibitor group after 48 h was (48.27±8.23) %, compared with the blank control group(100.00 %), the difference was statistically significant (t = 12.45, P < 0.01). After low-expression of miR-19a, the G0/G1 phase cells were increased and S phase cells were decreased. The low-expression of miR-19a could induce cell apoptosis. Conclusions Low-expression of miR-19a can inhibit cell proliferation, block G1/S transition and induce apoptosis in human glioma cell line U251. miR-19a may serve as an attractive target of gene therapy for glioblastoma. Key words: miR-19a; Human glioma; Cell proliferation; Apoptosis