Recently, deregulated microRNA (miRNA) expression contributes to the development and progression of human glioblastoma. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the level of miR-154 and Wnt5a in glioblastoma tissues and cells. We further investigated the molecular mechanisms of miR-154 and Wnt5a in glioblastoma cell lines. In the present study, we found that miR-154 expression was downregulated in glioblastoma tissues and U87, U251, and A172 cells (all p < 0.001). By contrast, Wnt5a was upregulated. Furthermore, we found that overexpression of miR-154 suppressed cell migration and invasion of U87 and U251 cells. Mechanically, overexpression of miR-154 inhibited epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of U87 and U251 cells. Importantly, we identified that the 3' untranslated region (3'-UTR) of Wnt5a was a direct target of miR-154. Luciferase reporter assays confirmed that miR-154 binding to the 3'-UTR regions of Wnt5a inhibited the expression of Wnt5a in U87 and U251 cells. At the same time, overexpressed Wnt5a also reversed EMT inhibited by miR-154. In conclusion, this study suggested that high miR-154 expression suppressed glioblastoma cell migration, invasion, and EMT development through targeting Wnt5a, which may be recommended as a therapeutic target for glioblastoma.
Keywords: EMT; GBM; MiR-154; Wnt5a.