MicroRNA miR-1249 downregulates adenomatous polyposis coli 2 expression and promotes glioma cells proliferation.

Continuous activation of the Wnt/β-Catenin signaling has been reported to play important roles in multiple process of tumor progression, leading to uncontrolled cancer cell proliferation, growth, and survival. However, the mechanism underlying the regulation of the Wnt/β-Catenin pathway remains largely unknown. Determining the molecular mechanism of the Wnt/β-Catenin pathway’s aberrant activation in glioma carcinogenesis might improve therapeutic strategies for patients with glioma. In this study, we showed that the expression of microRNA miR-1249 was markedly upregulated in glioma cell lines and tissues. Upregulation of miR-1249 enhanced, whereas downregulation inhibited, the proliferation of glioma cells both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, bioinformatic and experimental approaches showed that miR-1249 targets and suppresses APC2 expression, an important Wnt/β-Catenin pathway-regulated factor. These data suggested that miR-1249 could be a novel therapeutic target of microRNA-mediated cell proliferation in glioma.