MiR-328 expression is decreased in high-grade gliomas and is associated with worse survival in primary glioblastoma.

MicroRNAs, a group of small endogenous, noncoding RNAs, are aberrantly expressed in many human cancers and can act as oncogene or anti-oncogene. Recent evidence suggests that some miRNAs have prognostic value for tumors. MiR-328 is known as a tumor suppressor; however, its relationship with the clinicopathological features of glioblastoma (GBM) and its prognostic value has yet not been investigated. We found that expression of miR-328 was significantly decreased both in anaplastic and GBM cohorts and that low miR-328 expression also conferred poor survival in primary GBM (PGBM) patients. MiR-328 might, therefore, serve as an independent prognostic marker. Furthermore, expression profiles of miR-328-associated mRNAs were established via microarrays for 60 GBM samples. The ontology of the miR-328-associated genes was then analyzed, which identified gene sets tightly related to cell mitosis. In addition, ectopic expression of miR-328 inhibited U87 cell proliferation and induced U87 cell cycle arrest. In conclusion, this is the first report showing that miR-328 is associated with patient’s survival time and that miR-328 might serve as an independent prognostic biomarker for GBM.