Up-Regulated MiR-616-5p Promotes the Progression of Nasopharynx Cancer through GSK3β.

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a serious malignancy occurring in nasopharynx with high incidence, which is caused by excessive proliferation of nasopharyngeal cells. It has been reported that both microRNA (miR)-616-5p and glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3β) are involved in multiple biological processes in various cancer cells and there is a targeting relationship between them. However, their roles in NPC remain undiscovered. This study was to investigate the prognosis and regulatory role of miR-616-5p/ GSK3β in NPC. 136 patients with NPC were enrolled and provided tissue samples. The NPC cell line SUNE-1 was used to explore the effect of miR-616-5p on NPC. Cell transfection was used to regulate gene expression and the expression levels of miR-616-5p and GSK3β were confirmed by qRT-PCR. Results confirmed that miR-616-5p was increased in both NPC tissues of patients and NPC cell lines. Further Kaplan-Meier assay showed that increased miR-616-5p was related to the poor prognosis of NPC patients. Subsequent assessment on cellular biological behavior demonstrated that up-regulated miR-616-5p facilitated cell proliferation, migration and invasion while it suppressed cell apoptosis. In addition, GSK3β was identified as a potential downstream target of miR-616-5p by dual-luciferase system. In conclusion, up-regulated miR-616-5p may promote the progression of NPC via targeting GSK3β.