MiR-646 regulates proliferation and migration of laryngeal carcinoma via targeting GPX1.

Laryngeal carcinoma is a common type of head and neck malignancies. MicroRNA is implicated in the development and progression of various tumors. The present study is aim to explore the roles and mechanisms of miR-646 in proliferation and migration of laryngeal carcinoma cell lines. The expression of miR-646 was detected in laryngeal cells. Results showed that miR-646 was reduced in laryngeal carcinoma cell lines. MiR-646 mimic and its negative control were transfected into TU212 and TU686 cells, and then cell proliferation, migration and invasion were tested by CCK-8, cell proliferation ELISA BrdU and transwell assay respectively. Our data showed that overexpression of miR-646 reduced proliferative and invasive abilities of TU212 and TU686 cells. Dual luciferase reporter assay confirmed that glutathione peroxidase 1 (GPX1) is a direct target of miR-646. Additionally, overexpression of GPX1 contributes to cell proliferation and migration. Up-regulation of Gpx1 reversed the biological activities of miR-646 in proliferation and migration. Furthermore, western blot analysis demonstrated that miR-646 overexpression blocked PI3K/AKT pathway activation, and which is abrogated by GPX1 partly. 740Y-P, a PI3K agonist reversed the roles of miR-646 in cell proliferation and invasion. Taken together, miR-646 inhibited the proliferation and invasion of laryngeal carcinoma cell lines through PI3K/AKT pathway via targeting GPX1.