Hypoxia-induced miR-9 expression promotes ovarian cancer progression via activating PI3K/AKT/mTOR/GSK3β signaling pathway

• Published in: Neoplasma 2023-04, Vol.70 (2), p.216-228
• Main Authors: Zhu, Wen-Jing, Huang, Huan-Huan, Feng, Yi-Fan, Zhan, Lei, Yang, Jian, Zhu, Lin, Wang, Qing-Yuan, Wei, Bing, Wang, Wen-Yan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Movement; Cell Proliferation; Female; Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 beta - metabolism; Humans; Mice; Mice, Nude; MicroRNAs - genetics; MicroRNAs - metabolism; Ovarian Neoplasms - pathology; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases - metabolism; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt - metabolism; Signal Transduction; TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases - metabolism
• ISSN: 0028-2685
• DOI: 10.4149/neo_2023_221103N1079

Ovarian cancer (OC) is one of the most prevalent malignant tumors affecting women's life and health. Since OC has a poor prognosis due to extensive metastasis, there is a need to explore a new mechanism of OC metastasis. microRNAs (miRs) are single-stranded, non-coding RNAs. miR-9 has been reported to promote cancer and may provide a new strategy for OC diagnosis. The purpose of this study was to examine the function and underlying mechanism of miR-9 in OC. RT-qPCR was used to assess miR-9 expression levels. Transwell assays were used to determine the number of migrating and invading OC cells. The protein expression levels of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR/GSK3β signaling pathway were examined using western blotting. The results informed that, when compared to normal ovarian tissues, miR-9 was remarkably expressed in OC tissues, and hypoxia might lead to overexpression of miR-9-5p while inhibiting miR-9 notably suppressed the migrating and invading cell numbers in OC cells. In vivo, miR-9-5p knockdown inhibited tumor growth in a subcutaneous nude mice model of SKOV3 cells. Our findings suggest that miR-9 could be an underlying oncogene in OC, opening up new avenues for OC diagnosis and treatment of OC by targeting miR-9.