Effect of miR-296 on the Apoptosis of Androgen-independent Prostate Cancer Cells

Objective To investigate the miR-296′s function in prostate carcinoma(PCa) cells. Methods In order to profile the miRNA expression in LNCaP cells, the cultured cells were stimulated with androgen after 48-h starvation, miRNA microarray analysis and Q-RT-PCR assay were performed. To characterize the effects of miR296 on PCa cells, CL-1 and PC-3 cells were transfected with miR-296 and antisense-miR-296, cell growth and apoptosis were then analyzed. Results The miR-296-5p expression was up-regulated by 2.22 folds in the CL-1 cells, which do not express significantly androgen receptor, than in LNCaP cells. Knockdown of miR-296-5p induced apoptosis of CL-1 cells, but not LNCaP cells. However, knockdown of miR-296-5p inhibited the growth rate of LNCaP cells cultured in absence of androgen. Conclusion MiR-296-5p could be important for development of prostate cancer from androgen dependence to androgen independence.