Mir-29c Expression in Glioma and Its Effects on Tumor Cell Proliferation and Apoptosis

Background: To investigate the expression of microRNA-29c (miR-29c) in glioma and its effects on cell proliferation and apoptosis. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on 76 glioma patients in People's Hospital of Weifang, Weifang, Shandong, China from May 2013 to June 2017 (experimental group) and 63 healthy subjects in the same period (control group). qRT-PCR was used to detect the miR-29c expression. Changes of serum miR-29c expression level and the correlation of miR-29c of glioma patients with the degree of tumor differentiation and pathological type were observed. Cells were grouped before transfection into blank group (no transfection), negative control group (transfected with miRNA NC) and experimental group (transfected with miR-29c mimics). CCK-8 assay was used to detect cell proliferation, flow cytometry to detect apoptosis. Results: Expression of miR-29c in serum was significantly lower in experimental group than that in control group (P<0.05). The expression level of miR-29c of glioma patients increased with the degree of tumor differentiation (P<0.05). miR-29c in serum was not significantly correlated with the pathological type. Conclusion: miR-29c could inhibit the proliferation of glioma cells and promote apoptosis. miR-29c is lowly expressed in glioma, and the overexpression of which in glioma cells can inhibit tumor cells proliferation and promote apoptosis. It may be a tumor suppressor miRNA of glioma, and the expression level of which can be used as reference for evaluating the grade of glioma. It is indicated that the abnormal expression of miR-29c may be a key factor in the occurrence and development of glioma.