Open Access
ARTICLE
MicroRNA-411 Inhibits Cervical Cancer Progression by Directly Targeting STAT3
Dan Shan, Yumin Shang, Tongxiu Hu
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tianjin Hospital, Tianjin, P.R. China
Oncology Research 2019, 27(3), 349-358. https://doi.org/10.3727/096504018X15247361080118
Abstract
Cervical cancer is the third most common gynecological cancer and the fourth leading cause of cancer-related
deaths in women around the world. Substantial evidence has demonstrated that microRNA (miRNA) expression is disordered in many malignant tumors. The dysregulation of miRNAs has been suggested to be involved
in the tumorigenesis and tumor development of cervical cancer. Therefore, identification of miRNAs and their
biological roles and targets involved in tumor pathology would provide valuable insight into the diagnosis and
treatment of patients with cervical cancer. MicroRNA-411 (miR-411) has been reported to play an important
role in several types of human cancer. However, the expression level, role, and underlying molecular mechanisms of miR-411 in cervical cancer remain unclear. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to investigate
the expression pattern and clinical significance of miR-411 in cervical cancer and to evaluate its role and underlying mechanisms in this disease. In this study, we confirmed that the expression of miR-411 was significantly
downregulated in both cervical cancer tissues and cell lines. Low expression of miR-411 was associated with
tumor size, FIGO stage, lymph node metastasis, and distant metastasis. Additionally, miR-411 overexpression
inhibited cell proliferation and invasion in cervical cancer. Furthermore, signal transducer and activator of
transcription 3 (STAT3) was identified as a direct target of miR-411 in this disease. In clinical samples, miR-
411 expression levels were inversely correlated with STAT3, which was significantly upregulated in cervical
cancer. Restored STAT3 expression abolished the tumor-suppressing effects of miR-411 overexpression on the
proliferation and invasion of cervical cancer cells. In conclusion, our data demonstrated that miR-411 inhibited
cervical cancer progression by directly targeting STAT3 and may represent a novel potential therapeutic target
and prognostic marker for patients with this disease.
Keywords
Cite This Article
Shan, D., Shang, Y., Hu, T. (2019). MicroRNA-411 Inhibits Cervical Cancer Progression by Directly Targeting STAT3.
Oncology Research, 27(3), 349–358.